


Making History

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-12
Updated: 2008-11-12
Packaged: 2019-05-15 04:26:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14783574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Josh and Donna on the Santos campaign. Sequel to The Two Joshes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

Josh walked back into the New Hampshire headquarters. When Donna heard him she flung herself on the rail of the loft and called down to him. 

“Come up here, quick!” she ordered. “Ronna and I need you to take a picture of us with our new man.” 

“What?” he asked, climbing the stairs nevertheless. He smirked when he got up to the loft and saw the picture before him. Donna was wrapped around a life sized cardboard cutout of Russell, while Ronna was draped seductively along the other side of him, and appeared to be sticking her tongue in his ear. Laughing, Donna tossed Josh her digital camera. 

“This is everything that’s wrong with the First Amendment.” He sighed snapping the picture. The women broke away from faux Russell and Josh picked up a black marker and started drawing a mustache on his face. 

“He should be our new mascot.” Donna noted watching his artwork over his shoulder. 

“You’re having too much fun.” Josh smiled. “You know how seriously I take presidential campaigns.” 

“Just making campaign memories.” She shrugged. “Ronna and I can bust them out on election night.” 

“Making history is more like it.” Ronna gushed smiling. “Thinking about Matt as the President is totally nuts!” 

“You have to start thinking of the *congressman* in terms of being the President.” Josh reminded her yet again. The congressman and his staff were so informal with each other it was making him crazy. “Picture this. A Seawolfe class nuclear submarine stops transmitting. The last known location of it was off the coast of North Korea, where it’s not supposed to be. But it was there anyway gathering intelligence. There are two scenarios, it’s either gone quiet because it fears it may have been detected and compromised, or it’s disabled and taking on water. For the sake of my argument, I’m going to say it’s been disabled and is taking on water. 

“Now to rescue the crew of this highly sensitive, extremely expensive submarine, you have to notify North Korea of its existence. North Korea will be outraged that we were spying and accuse us of breaking any number of international laws. So, the decision is, save the crew, and probably have our extremely expensive submarine turned over to the UN, along with all its technology and information it gathered and exposing the very existence of one of our intelligence gathering methods, and thus effectively compromising national security, or to let the crew die a slow death and preserve our national security. MATT would save the crew, as any human being would want to do; the President has to make a totally different decision. 

“The reason why I’m so adamant that you call him the congressman is so HE starts to get into the headspace of being the office and not the man. He’s going to have to make a lot of those decisions in the White House; decisions that would make Matt sick.” 

“All right.” Ronna sighed. “I’ll try to make a bigger effort to remember to start calling him congressman. He’s going to hate it though, just so you know.” 

“I guarantee you he’ll get over it the first time they play `Hail to the Chief’ for him.” Josh assured and Ronna made her way back downstairs. “When did this thing get here anyway?” he asked motioning to the new faux Russell. 

“It was here when we got back from lunch.” Donna shrugged. “How DID your meeting with Will go?” 

“He proposed a clean campaign.” Josh replied. 

“I think he’s scared of you.” Donna said. 

“Yeah?” 

She nodded in response and he looked back to the faux Russell. “This guy’s starting to grow on me.” He smiled. 

“Josh!” Ronna called up from below. “There’s a Mr. Potus on the phone for you and someone here to see you!” Donna and Josh looked at each other wide eyed and he snatched up the phone, while she made her way downstairs to the new comer. 

“Liz!” Donna greeted surprised by the presence of Elizabeth, the oldest Bartlet daughter, in the empty office. 

“You guys are doing great things with the place.” Liz laughed motioning towards the stray life rafts left around the room. “There are some that say it’s symbolism for you guys.” 

“Of course, it is.” Donna agreed. “We’re thinking of taking pictures of the congressman in the life boat and putting it out with the slogan `Coming to save a country near you.’” 

“I forgot. This is Josh’s campaign; he can spin anything.” 

“Well, he’ll appreciate the compliment, but that one was all me.” 

“He’s taught you well.” 

“As has your dad.” Donna said. “So, what can we do for you?” 

“I’ve come with a peace offering.” Liz announced as Josh bounded down the stairs. 

“Ah, come to draw more blood?” Josh asked her. 

“That wasn’t my idea.” Liz countered. “We had agreed not to support anyone, but it seems he changed his mind. I about threw a paint can at his head when we got home.” 

“Donna’s got pretty good aim, if you’d like to take her back with you.” Josh replied. 

“I deserve that.” Liz said. “But I wanted to give you this all the same.” She stuck her hand out and Josh looked at the check. 

“I have to report this.” He reminded her. 

“Yeah, I’m not allowed to give any more, that’s the maximum amount.” She sighed with mock drama. 

“It’ll go down as a Bartlet Family donation.” He continued, but Donna plucked the check out of his hand and quickly went to go find Ronna. 

“Well, that’ll be a shame from a PR standpoint, won’t it?” she called over her shoulder as she left the office. Josh smiled after her and Donna returned to his side. “Oh, and Zoe’s visiting, so take cover! She found out you were up here.” 

“What do you make of that?” Donna asked once Liz disappeared through the front door. 

“I’m not really sure.” he responded. “But I know when Will the Weasel sees it, he’s going to freak.” 

“What’d the President want?” she asked. 

“He gave me numbers.” 

“Education?” 

“Yup.” 

“Interesting turn this campaign has taken today.” She noted. 

TBC


	2. Making History

“So, Josh is a pretty intense guy, huh?” Ronna asked Donna as they sat at the hotel bar. Josh and the Congressman were over in a booth going over debate strategy. 

“What do you mean?” Donna asked. 

“He just seems so serious.” Ronna shrugged. “Is he always this serious about things?” 

“He’s always this serious about presidential campaigns.” Donna replied. “He’s good at what he does.” 

“How long have you guys known each other?” 

“Eight years.” 

“You’ve been together for eight years and you haven’t gotten married yet?” 

“No.” Donna laughed. “I’ve worked with him for eight years, but we’ve only been together for about a year and a half.” Donna looked down at her white wine before taking another sip. “What about you? Boyfriend? Husband?” 

“Girlfriend.” Ronna replied smiling. 

“Ah.” Donna said a little surprised. 

“Yes.” 

“Well, we are democrats.” Donna smiled. 

“What do you think Josh is going say?” Ronna hedged a little nervously. 

“Well, professionally he’s not going to care, and personally, after he meets your girlfriend, he’ll be trying to picture you two naked together. And I wouldn’t be surprised if his twisted mind throws a naked me into that mix either.” 

Ronna laughed at her candidness and relaxed a little. “Is it always this touch and go in the beginning of a campaign?” 

“I started working for Josh during the first Bartlet for America campaign. I came on before the primaries were over, but they’d already picked up a lot of steam and endorsements so there was a bigger staff and more of a budget. I know there weren’t too many people when Josh joined. I think it was just Leo and Toby Ziegler then. Then Josh brought on Sam Seaborne and Toby brought on CJ Cregg.” 

“And Bartlet’s dream team was born?” Ronna smiled. Donna gave her a quizzical expression. “That’s what Matt – the Congressman, I mean, called them once. The day he told us he was going to run for president, I was stunned. We all were really. He had said that he wasn’t even going to run for congress, and suddenly he changes his mind and goes for the top spot. He talked about how Josh had a plan, and we all knew who Josh was, and so here I am. Unfortunately, we can’t send more people with us from the Washington office. Ned will come out every now and then. But at the moment, you pretty much get me.” 

“Well, you’ve been a big help so far, and it’s nice to have another woman around.” Donna replied as Josh approached them and she saw the Congressman leave the bar. 

“He’s going to go call his kids.” Josh said answering her unasked question. “I was trying to get drunk tonight but it doesn’t seem to be happening.” He frowned putting his high ball glass on the bar. 

“Well, we can grab a bottle of scotch, go back to our room, and I’ll let you drink it off me.” Donna offered coyly. Ronna smiled as Josh’s eyes bugged out of his head at her offer. 

“You’re on!” he agreed a bit too enthusiastically. 

“Or you can let me buy you all a round and I’ll get you loaded.” Said a familiar feminine voice from behind. The trio turned around to see a smiling Zoe Bartlet standing behind them. 

“Not that it’s not good to see you and all, Zo, but I like Donna’s idea better.” Josh quipped. Zoe smacked him in the stomach and hugged him, before moving on to Donna. 

“Ronna, this is Zoe Bartlet.” Donna introduced. Zoe smiled and greeted Ronna, who looked more than a little star struck. Zoe dropped onto the bar stool on the other side of Ronna and looked across her to Josh and Donna. 

“Well, another round on me.” She said motioning to the bartender. “I’ll need Josh good and liquored up anyway.” 

“What?” he demanded. “What scheme is your devious little mind hatching now?” 

“Scheme? Moi?” she asked feigning shock. 

“Do you know anything about this?” he asked Donna but motioned to Zoe. She shrugged in response and he looked expectantly back over to her as the bartender gave them all fresh drinks. 

“Oh all right.” Zoe scoffed taking a sip of her grasshopper. “Originally, I was going to hang around Doug’s campaign, but then I heard you two fell and hit your heads and started a dark horse campaign, so I decided this would be the better place to be.” 

“For what?” 

“I’ve been approached to write a book.” Zoe explained. “Apparently, Westinghouse seems to think I’ve led an interesting life so far, and keep your smart ass mouth shut here, Josh, but the subject of the book is like a what I’ve seen thing. My father’s presidency and life through the eyes of me kind of thing and growing up a political kid and all that kind of stuff. I was going to put in a few chapters about people who’ve influenced me along the way. My mother seems to think you’d be one of them.” 

“Huh.” Josh said. That really kind of made him speechless. How does someone deny that? “And your father’s on board with this?” 

“Not really, but I’m 24 years old.” Zoe reminded him. “I don’t need Daddy’s permission.” 

“I ask that because there’s press following me around, Zoe.” Josh replied. 

“Again, I’m 24 years old. I don’t clear my life through CJ and Toby.” She shot back. “I think I can do what I need to do without saying anything damaging about my dad in the process.” 

Josh looked at her skeptically for a few moments. It’s not that he didn’t like having Zoe around, he did. She really was like a little sister to him. But the responsibility of having her around was a bit much at the moment. And Brock and Steve were sure to write about her being there, not to mention the secret service Zoe traveled with usually turned a few heads, which would get their attention turned in the Congressman’s direction. 

“I see the wheels turning in your head. You’re discovering that we could be good for each other.” Zoe said. “Please, Josh? Please, please, please.” 

“What happens when your father accuses me of exploiting you?” Josh demanded. 

“I have two secret service agents around me. NO reporter is going to mess with me when my guys are around.” She assured. 

“You said this was your mother’s idea?” he asked, still unsure, and she nodded. 

He sighed and looked at her. “This will probably only further enhance CJ and Toby’s opinions that I’m an idiot, but okay.” Zoe squealed and flung herself at him again while he looked over her head at Donna. “The President’s daughter on the campaign trail, what could possibly go wrong?” 

TBC


	3. Making History

“Well, your boyfriend certainly has a few tricks up his sleeve.” Donna heard a familiar drone behind her just before Will stood next to her. 

“What do you mean, Will?” she sighed. 

“Chickens?” 

“It worked, didn’t it?” Donna smiled. 

They were standing in the hall getting ready for the debate. Josh and the Congressman had just left rather abruptly for the television studio. Ronna had stayed behind with her and Donna saw her near the stage talking with Zoe. 

“I thought we agreed to run a clean campaign.” Will retorted. 

“Oh, he was just egging you on!” Donna laughed with a snort. 

“Clever.” 

“Oh, come on, Will.” Donna scoffed. “Where’s your sense of humor? Those chickens ate up a valuable chunk of our budget.” 

“Good.” 

“Well, they were worth every penny. We’re at the debate and Santos is going to kick ass.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Will retorted. “He’s up there against Hoynes, who is no slouch at debates.” 

“Hoynes is his only real competition up there.” Donna defended. “And I’m not worried about him holding his own against him. Matt Santos has nothing to hide.” 

“I see you’ve acquired a more distinguished campaign staff.” Will said changing the subject and gesturing over in Zoe’s direction. “First Elizabeth gives the maximum donation and now you’ve got Zoe campaigning with you? The President is aware that he has to support the democratic nominee, right? If it looks like he’s leaning toward anyone, it has to look like he’s leaning toward the Vice President.” 

“Well, Will, you should tell the President that, because he loves when people insinuate he’s stupid, first of all; second of all, Zoe isn’t campaigning with us, she’s here for different reasons that are none of your business; and third, Josh is like a big brother to Zoe, they’ve been close since the President’s first campaign. It’s not unusual that she’s here.” 

Donna’s tirade was cut off when she saw the Vice President approach Zoe and Ronna. He was smiling when he was talking to her, then he reached out and hugged her, and not surprisingly, there was flashbulb. When Zoe pulled out of the hug, she looked skeeved. Donna looked over at Will, who was looking smug. 

“Oh, Will.” She sighed, not hiding the fact that she was appalled. “That was stupid.” 

“The Vice President of the United States hugging the President of the United States’ daughter at a debate? He’s the Vice President, she’s the President’s daughter, that wasn’t weird.” 

“Have you learned nothing since you’ve worked there?” Donna asked. “Once Josh gets done with you, the President will sit you and your guy over there down in the Oval Office and dress you up and down. Then, when he’s done, YOU will get CJ and Toby. And I know you like everyone to think you’re not afraid of anyone, Will, but the Vice President’s going to have a hard time with his campaign if he’s got the senior staff stonewalling him.” 

Zoe walked across the hall to them and stood in front of Will. “Will Bailey, right?” she asked having never actually met him. “A picture’s worth a thousand words, right?” 

“That’s what they say.” Will replied not quite understanding what she was getting at. 

She cocked her head to the side and studied him for a moment. “I think I’ve got 1,000 words to say to Steve and Brock over there on the strengths of Matt Santos versus the weaknesses of Vice President Russell.” She smiled sweetly then turned and walked off towards the two reporters that were nearby. 

“Well, I can’t say I’m not surprised to hear that from the President’s daughter.” Will confessed. 

“No.” Donna replied. “That there was all Josh’s influence.” 

************************* 

Josh woke abruptly by Donna’s blood curling scream. He had been sleeping so soundly that he bounded completely out of bed and was disoriented for a few moments. 

“What the hell!?” he cried out. Then he looked at the bed and saw Donna sitting up and frantically struggling to get a hold of her breathing. He moved quickly over to her and tried to gain her attention. “It’s okay.” He said softly. “It’s just a nightmare. Take deep breaths.” She nodded jerkily as he spoke in a soothing voice. He started counting for her as she slowly gained control of her breathing. 

When she was calmed down, he went into the bathroom and returned with a glass of water, which she gratefully drank. He sat next to her on the bed and she fell to the side into his lap. He alternated between gently rubbing her back and stroking her hair. 

“I talked to Stanley; I thought they’d go away.” She said quietly. 

“I talked to Stanley four years ago, they still haven’t completely gone away.” He replied. 

“I’m sorry I woke you up.” 

“Because I haven’t done the exact same thing to YOU before.” He retorted. 

“But tomorrow’s an early day.” 

“Again, because I haven’t done the exact same thing to YOU before. You want to talk about it?” he asked. 

“No.” she said quickly. 

“Ah, so I’m now in the car.” He surmised and he felt her stiffen and heard her quiet gasp. 

“How did you know that?” 

“In my worst nightmares, Donna, you’re walking right by my side.” He confessed. “You’ve been shot more times than I care to think about, and they’re never the ones I can wake myself up from.” 

She rolled to her back so she could look up at him. He was studying her closely and she smiled slightly. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” she joked. He shrugged and continued to look down at her. 

“The good new is,” he said finally, “is it’s all trauma related. So our kids might be normal.” She laughed and smacked him in the arm. “Want me to call down to room service and have them send up some hot decaf tea?” 

“Nah, I got you.” She smiled. 

He shifted his body to lay back down next to her and she curled into him. They were quiet for a little while, while he stroked her arm. If she didn’t want to talk about it, there really wasn’t much else to do but wait until she fell back asleep. 

“Hey, why was Zoe talking to Steve and Brock tonight?” he asked. 

“You don’t want a piece of that tonight.” She yawned. “It’ll all be in the paper tomorrow, I’m sure.” 

“Kay, well, now I really don’t like the sound of that. What happened?” 

“Okay, but promise not to like blow your stack here. There’s nothing you can do about it at 3 in the morning.” She warned. 

“This isn’t starting out well.” 

“Will orchestrated for the Vice President to hug her in front of a photographer to get the press of them together at the debate.” Donna began. “Zoe got pretty riled about it. She told Will that since a picture was worth 1,000 words, she was going to go give 1,000 words to Steve and Brock on why Santos is better than Russell.” 

Donna felt Josh tense underneath her. She thought he was going to explode and was pleasantly surprised when a long, tired sigh came out instead. 

“The President is going to have a conniption.” Josh said. “I mean, the man is simply going to erupt.” 

“Yeah,” Donna agreed. “but that’s Will’s problem.” 

“Donna!” 

“I think Zoe handled it beautifully. She stuck it to them way better than we could have. She did it all on her own. I’m sure there’s something in there about her opinions being her own. The President will be pissed for about ten seconds before the First Lady gets a hold of him.” 

“I’m glad you’re having fun with all this.” 

“The chickens were YOUR idea.” Donna reminded. “You knew that was a childish stunt when you pulled it.” 

“With your loving encouragement.” 

“I thought it was a great idea.” Donna countered. “I’m not the one claiming to be mature.” 

He sighed and rolled to face her. “Everyone thinks I’m crazy.” He whispered after a few minutes. 

“It’s the mark of a genius.” She said reaching over to stroke his cheek with her thumb. He smiled at her and pulled her close. She dipped her head into the crook of his neck gave a gently squeeze with her arms. 

“Maybe one day I’ll figure out what I did that was so great that I deserve you.” 

“Oh, well that’s easy, Joshua.” She replied. “You believed in me when no one else did.” 

TBC


	4. Making History

“No, no, no, no--call them back.” Josh said into this cell phone at the White House. “Talk to Elyse Bane. Tell her they're not bumping us for Ricki Rafferty.” 

“Hang up.” Donna ordered. 

“Tell her the Congressman is available tomorrow only. Rafferty can wait.” He said ignoring her request. 

“Hang up, now. “ 

“Keep your pants on.” he retorted. Then went back to his call “Call me back.” He hung up the phone and looked at her. “I'm going to put a hit out on Ricki Rafferty.” Donna grabbed his hand and pulled him down the corridor. 

“I need to talk to you, not with a million people around.” She pulled him into a supply closet and closed the door. 

“Donna, we’ve already done the sex in the White House thing.” Josh quipped. “And that door opens out. Don’t you think that might be a bit embarrassing when we end up on the floor of the bullpen with our pants down?” 

“Rafferty put out the full text of the health plan. Annabeth had a copy. Look at page three.” She said ignoring him and handed him a packet of paper. 

"Obliterate the money-laundering middleman between you and your doctor." He read aloud. “Why didn't every article lead with this?” 

“It wasn't in the first speech. They released the whole plan today. It guarantees them another three days of coverage--look how it's structured.” 

“It's structured like Jed Bartlet structured it before we forced him to cut it out of his plan.” 

“Rafferty's got to have someone who worked on the President's first health care initiative. That was you, Toby, Sam, Melanie, Ken --” 

“You missed one.” 

“No, who'd I miss?” 

“The President.” 

“No.” Donna said shaking her head. 

“Maybe.” 

Donna shook her head again. Though the President and Leo weren’t exactly making this campaign easy for them, all evidence was pointing toward the President liking Santos. He wouldn’t out and out screw them like that with a senator throwing her hat into the ring late in the game. 

“So you’re suspecting Toby?” Josh asked her. And she shrugged. “He’s pissed enough at me, and he’s acting really weird today, too.” 

“He’s the only one that makes any sense.” Donna said. 

“Yeah.” Josh said. 

“You should talk to him.” She said opening the closet door and stepping back out into the bullpen. He sighed and followed her. 

“All right.” He said. “I’ll catch up to you.” 

********************************* 

Donna walked through the door of their apartment and found Josh sitting at the table in the darkened kitchen, two empty beer bottles sat before him, and he was half-way through the third. Ginger had cornered her and told her what happened in Toby’s office. Donna had stood there gaping like a fish to Ginger, completely disbelieving of what Ginger was telling her. 

She walked across the apartment and draped herself across his lap. His arms came around her tightly and he dropped his head into her chest. 

“Want to talk about it?” 

“No.” 

“That’s not really like you.” 

“Apparently, it is.” 

She rubbed his back as he held onto her, keeping his eyes tightly shut. Maybe he could just disappear into her. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he could just become completely a part of her and never have to think about today again; never have to think about how a man, who he often considered a brother, seemed to betray him today; how a man who had literally saved his life, turned so quickly. 

He was tired of being the one who took on the hard tasks and persevered; he was tired of being the West Wing’s punching bag; he was tired of the President and Leo seemingly showing support on one hand and stonewalling him on the other; he was tired of being the one everyone just assumed would get the job done. 

They all thought he was out there looking to carry on Barlet’s legacy; looking for the man that would continue their dream and doing this for them. He wasn’t doing any of this for them. He was doing it for his future with Donna, and his future with their family. He didn’t remember it being this hard; having this much adversity to overcome. Is this what Leo was up against? Constantly having to prove to everyone he was right? Forcing everyone to see the man he saw? Was Matt Santos worth all this? 

He was. 

He had grand dreams for the country. He had a killer education plan; health plan, crime bill. He had an agenda in mind that would turn the current administration on its ear. At first, Josh worried about him being too ambitious with what he wanted to accomplish in the White House, but the more time he spent around this man, the more sucked in by him he became; the more he got the feeling he did at the VFW in New Hampshire eight years ago…times ten. 

He was worried that Donna would be disappointed when she heard what happened, and maybe she was, but she wasn’t letting on to be. She was holding him tightly and rubbing his back and he thought that he was holding on to the best decision of his life. She knew when to press him and when not to; when he needed to hear her support, and when he knew he already had it; when he needed physical comfort and when he just needed her. 

As he held her now, he just wanted to say screw it and take her to bed and carve out a whole new life tomorrow. He knew she’d never let him do that because he wasn’t a quitter and he couldn’t live with himself if he lost simply because the fight got too hard. He wanted to say, forget the President and Leo, CJ and Toby, let them get stuck with President Bingo Bob, it would serve them right, he’d just take Donna and move to Canada for the next four years, it was her “home country” anyway. 

But then he thought about his father. His father would be disappointed he gave up and didn’t see it to the end and let Will the Weasel win. He gave a shutter as he envisioned Will sitting in Leo’s office advising Bingo Bob, and Bob Russell being stupid enough to think it was informative advice, and he realized that they were sure to start a war with Canada between them and he’d have to deal with them anyway. 

He looked up at her and she smiled down and cupped his cheek gently, then dipped her head down and kissed him. He kissed her back with desperation. She shifted in his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist and he picked her up and carried her to bedroom, barely breaking contact with her lips along the way. When he laid her down onto the bed she looked up at him, and he knew that she knew there was going to be nothing slow and gentle about this; that slow would be painful and he needed to lose himself in her. He could see in her gaze she was okay with that. 

He thought if he were a better man, he should be ashamed at the way she was willing to offer her up body for his selfish needs and that he was more than okay with it, but he never pretended to be that man and he never pretended to be something he wasn’t with her. And so he took her the way he needed to, and she selflessly gave him what he wanted. 

He clung to his side of the bed when it was over, but she pulled him back to her and wrapped herself around him. She also knew when to pull him back from the edge. He turned in her arms and she kissed him on the forehead. He felt that kiss ripple down his body and cleanse the darker events of the day away and within minutes, he was asleep. 

TBC


	5. Making History

“So, taking California.” Sam said as he hugged Josh hello at the hotel restaurant. “That must feel good.” 

“Not as good as it will if we take in November, but at the moment, yeah.” 

“And Hoynes is dropping out.” 

“Yeah, I think Donna’s a prophet. That was some impressive talking out her ass she did there.” Josh smiled. 

“And now, of course, there’s you and Donna.” 

“What? There’s been me and Donna for almost two years.” Josh reminded. 

“Yeah, but I live out here.” Sam reminded. “Where is she anyway? I thought she was coming.” 

“She’ll be along.” Josh assured. “She’s doing something with Helen Santos. Those two are getting pretty tight.” 

“Bitching about the men.” Sam surmised with a nod of his head. 

“Probably.” 

“I just, you know, want to hug her.” 

“You just want to hug her?” Josh repeated opening up the menu. 

“I haven’t seen her since the whole Gaza thing, Josh.” Sam reminded. “She’s a good friend of mine. I just want to see for myself that she’s really okay.” 

Josh nodded in understanding. “She’s okay. She’s really good.” Josh said. “I don’t know who you talk to more, me or her, but I don’t think I told you we were engaged, did I?” 

“No.” Sam smiled. “But she emailed me. Congratulations!” 

“I know it’s hard to believe sometimes.” Josh said. They gave the waiter their drink order. When Josh looked back at Sam he saw him with a goofy grin on his face. “What the hell is that look for?” 

“Tell me about it.” 

“Tell you about what?” 

“When you and Donna got together.” Sam prodded. 

“You want me to kiss and tell?” 

“Well…yeah.” 

“You really are a girl.” Josh laughed. 

“Hey!” Sam cried indignantly. “I’ve been waiting for you two to get together almost as long as you guys were, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask that you share a few details with your best friend.” 

“What do you want to know, Sam?” Josh demanded. He tried to sound annoyed, but he was talking about Donna and when he talked about Donna he always smiled. 

“What was the first kiss like?” 

“It was good.” 

“Good? Six years of waiting to kiss her and it was good?” 

“The planets aligned, Sam! What do you want from me?” Josh said. “It was the most amazing moment of my life, so amazing I begged her to come home with me that night like a 16 year old. My entire universe fell into place that day.” 

“Ah, well then.” Sam replied. “Where did you kiss her?” 

“What do you mean where? On her lips. Where else would I kiss her?” 

“No where were you guys?” 

“My office.” 

“You kissed her in your office? Six years and there was like no romance to it?” 

“There was a whole Amy thing that led up to it.” Josh explained. “It wasn’t planned. If it was planned, I would have done it when I wouldn’t have had to wait all day for the next step.” 

“That I actually don’t want to know about.” Sam halted holding up his hand. 

“Good, because I wasn’t going to tell you about that.” Josh smirked. “I certainly wasn’t going to tell you about her amazing body; and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell you that I made her multi-orgasmic.” 

“She’d kick your ass if she heard what you were saying.” Sam warned. 

“Sam, I shudder to think what CJ’s got on me.” 

“How ARE your dealings with the White House these days?” 

“Limited.” Josh replied. 

“I’m not surprised.” 

“What the hell does that mean?” 

“They think you jumped ship.” 

“I went to go get the next ship.” Josh defended. “We were supposed to sit around and let Russell and Hoynes duke it out as our only choices? Talk about the lesser of who cares!” 

“I’m just saying that they feel abandoned.” Sam said. “I don’t think you’re the bad guy. I’m glad you went out and found a guy. Santos is someone I can get excited about.” 

“Excited enough to join the campaign?” Josh hedged. 

“Excited, not delusional.” Sam laughed. 

“Well, I got the Presidential blessing, and he’s not one to mince words when he’s pissed at me, so they can all get off my back already.” 

“I saw Steve and Brock’s articles about Zoe. She sure believes in you. Did she come out now?” 

“No, she’s not here.” Josh replied. “She’s in Washington. She’s joining us again at the convention. She’s writing a book.” 

“Really?” Sam asked with interest. “Good for her.” 

“Don’t ever let your weasley friend Will Bailey know that though.” Josh threatened. “Right now we blissfully have him under the impression she’s campaigning with us. Donna likes him sweating it out.” 

“Hey, if I knew Will was going to turn out like this, I never would have sent him your way.” 

“He was fine until he morphed into a power hungry, bitter, wannabe power player that can’t tell his ass from his elbow.” 

“So he was just fine when he was playing for your team.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Toby needs to learn not to over-wind his toys.” Sam stated. 

“Don’t talk about Toby.” 

“Right.” Sam acquiesced wisely staying away from that topic, both Donna and CJ had emailed him about that little encounter and Donna had emphasized Josh’s desire not to talk about anything that was remotely related to Toby. 

“I really think you guys have a fighting chance to take California in November.” Sam said. 

“The republicans are going to nominate Vinnick.” Josh reminded. “Vinnick’s pretty well liked here.” 

“Pretty well liked.” Sam agreed. “But there are those of us that aren’t in love with him, and Santos can pick up some real steam here if you approach it right.” 

“Or I get ridiculously lucky.” Josh mumbled. 

“Or you get ridiculously lucky.” Sam agreed. 

TBC


	6. Making History

Donna walked into the hotel bar and scanned the room. She found Josh immediately at the bar watching Sullivan’s speech and yelling at the t.v. 

“Josh--let's sit over here.” Donna suggested tugging on his arm and leading him over to a set of lounge chairs nearby. 

“How you doing?” he asked sarcastically to customers that were giving him an odd look. Oh, like they’ve never seen a half-drunk man yell at television before? He sat down next to Donna. “I realize the VP candidates are the designated hatchetmen, but that's ...” 

“If the Congressman accepts, you can get your revenge.” Donna replied 

“Yeah, you think I might find five or five hundred ways to call Vinick old? You want sclerotic, I'll give you sclerotic.” 

“The Congressman wouldn't do it.” 

“Probably not. “ 

“Maybe why he shouldn't take the job.” She replied. She’d been trying to find him talk about it all day. When she got him on the phone, he sounded as if the Congressman might be considering Russell’s offer for the VP slot. 

“Maybe why he'd be a great choice. Restore some civility.” Josh countered. 

“You want him to accept?” she asked incredulously. She was amazed he was even thinking about it. This is what they worked so hard for? To come in second to Will the Weasel? 

“You don't.” 

“I have concerns.” 

“He's not hit man enough.” Josh noted. 

“He's too much voltage at the bottom of the ticket.” Donna argued. 

“Overshadows the nominee.” Josh listed. 

“Gets people wishing the names were reversed.” 

“Gets people willing to wait until next time.” 

“And we’re right back to doing what we came to do, run for President, not settle for Vice President.” She ended. 

“Vice President is nothing to sneeze at Donna. No one knew him before January, now he’s being offered VP on the ticket?” 

“We didn’t leave our jobs for Vice President to Bingo Bob, Josh.” Donna shot back. 

“You’re making a good argument.” He smiled. 

“Well…yeah.” She said forcefully. 

“Don’t be pissed at me for this. This wasn’t my idea. THEY came to US remember? You think I want to lose to Will Bailey?” 

“I think two minutes ago you were giving up.” She retorted. 

“Yeah, like I could give up with you around.” 

“Don’t be an asshole.” She warned. “I’m already pissed that I had to hear about this from Will in the first place. YOU didn’t tell me about this. I thought we were in this together.” 

“We are.” 

“Really? Kind of feels like I was left out of something.” 

“It’s not our decision to make.” Josh said. “It’s the Congressman’s. If he doesn’t want to fight anymore, he doesn’t want to fight anymore.” 

“Do you think he’ll do it?” she asked quietly. 

“No.” 

“They’re afraid, Josh.” She continued. “They’re afraid he’s going to win. Why else would they have made the offer? They’re trying to intimidate him.” 

“He’s going to sleep on it tonight.” He stood up and held out his hand to her. 

“He’s going to fight with Helen tonight about it.” Donna countered putting her hand in his. 

“Yeah.” Josh agreed. He tugged on her hand and she stood up. He kissed her gently. “I didn’t mean to keep you out of it. It happened kind of fast, and quite frankly, I didn’t know why we were going over there anyway.” 

“Kay.” She nodded. He led her out of the hotel bar and they made their way over to the elevators. “You’re doubting yourself now.” She noted as they stood in the lobby waiting for the elevator to open. 

“It’s not hard to do when everyone’s telling you to quit while you’re ahead.” He said softly. 

“I’m not telling you that.” She reminded. “Are you telling the Congressman that?” 

“I’m giving him the pros and cons.” 

“Josh!” 

“That’s my job, Donna.” He defended. “My job is to make sure he has all the information I can give him before he makes a decision. That’s what a campaign manager does.” 

“That’s what a chief of staff does.” She retorted as the elevator doors opened and they walked inside. It didn’t go unnoticed by her that he didn’t reply to her comment. “Looks like if we win the nomination, we have to go back to some tabled issues.” 

“Right now, I’m looking forward to the convention. If we win there, I’m focusing on the election.” He answered weakly. 

“What did I just meet you yesterday?” she asked mildly annoyed. “You’re going to stand there and tell ME that you haven’t thought about that; that the thought of what you’ll get out of all this HASN’T crossed your mind? Don’t insult my finely honed skill of reading you, Joshua.” 

“It’s crossed my mind.” He confessed. 

“I see.” She said. The elevator opened to their floor and they walked out into the hall. They walked down the hall to their room; Josh with his hands in his pockets and Donna with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. “And?” 

“And I think that job ruined Leo’s marriage.” 

She stopped in front of their door and took out the keycard. When she heard that comment, she turned to face him. “You’re telling me you wouldn’t consider chief of staff? He’ll offer it to you, Josh, you’d be the one that got him there.” 

He shrugged and she turned to open the door. “I think it’s a bigger conversation than this and we have to get past the convention first.” They walked into the room and she switched on the light by the bed and stepped out of her shoes. “Besides Donna, we may never have to have that conversation. Chief of staff to the Vice President is a heck of a lot less demanding than chief of staff to the President.” 

She dropped down on the bed, propped herself up on her elbows and watched as he began to undress. She watched as he moved around the room, taking pieces of clothing off as he went. He stopped when he seemed to notice she wasn’t doing the same thing. 

“Is this a show?” he smirked. She shrugged and continued to study him. “You have more clothes on than me.” 

“I do.” She noted. 

“I thought we had rules about that sort of thing.” 

“We don’t.” 

“Maybe I should make one.” 

“I make the rules, not you.” 

“This is true. But, I could reinstitute my sex rules from when you got back from Germany.” He said. 

“None of which had anything to do with the amount of clothes I had on.” She reminded him. She smiled as he screwed his face up in disappointment as he realized she was right. “There was, however, a rule I remember being rather fond of; something about me not over exerting myself and letting YOU do all the work.” She smiled coyly as a small smile crossed his face. “Now THAT’S a rule I wouldn’t mind you bringing back.” 

She was always amazed at how stealthy he could be when the possibility of sex presented itself. He was straddling over her on the bed in about half a second flat. “I think you made out better in the rules than I did. You had sex rules, I didn’t.” 

“That would be because we weren’t having sex then.” She reminded as she lay down on her back and brought her hands up under his t-shirt. 

“Yes, that was a tragedy.” He sighed. “It’s too bad. I think I would have fun with that hospital bed and all the positions it could do.” 

“You’re entirely too enthusiastic. You would have given yourself a heart attack for sure.” 

“Enthusiastic.” He repeated. “Is that how you get around calling me Wild Thing?” 

“I have never in my life called you that.” 

“I should have had it written into your job description.” 

“You could have had bringing you coffee written into my job description, too, for all the good it would have done you.” 

“Now that I’m thinking about it, you were pretty insubordinate.” He said. 

“What are we going to do if he says yes tomorrow?” she asked changing the subject. 

“Cut him loose.” He replied easing himself down next to her and beginning to work her out of her clothes. 

“Seriously, Josh.” 

“There is no way in hell I’m taking orders from Will Bailey.” Josh said. 

“We could cast our lot with Vinnick; he’s moderate.” 

“Okay. I know you tend to trip over something and vote republican, Donnatella, but I wouldn’t cast that ballot with a gun to my head.” 

“I’m just trying to explore our options.” 

“I’m exploring something else right now.” He murmured as started kissing her neck. 

“We should have a plan in place when we see him tomorrow in case he accepts.” She said. 

“I’ve got a plan at the moment.” He said. He had pulled her sweater over her head now and dropped his mouth to her breast. 

“I mean a plan about the thing.” 

“You’re topless, Donna.” Josh pointed out now sliding her skirt off. “And now you have no pants on. There is enough oxygen flowing to my brain to think of one thing right now, and that is quickly depleting. 

“We can multi-task.” Donna suggested pulling his shirt off. 

“I can’t.” He reached around her back, unclasped her bra, slid it away and tossed it over her shoulder. “Have you ever known me to do that?” 

“You have a point.” She slid his boxers down his legs and her underwear followed. He gently shifted her up the bed to lay against the pillows. “Can we pull down this comforter? It’s pretty scratchy on my ass.” He chuckled as she propped herself up and he pulled the covers back. 

“Anything else I can do for you?” he offered. 

“You can get the show on the road.” 

“You’re awfully demanding.” 

“This is the rule when I don’t…ah…” the rest of her words died in her throat as his fingers slid into her. 

“You were saying something?” he asked innocently. 

“Uh-uh.” She gasped running her fingers into his hair. 

“I thought you could multi-task.” He quipped dropping his mouth to her breast. 

“It seems I might have been mistaken.” She moaned as his fingers increased their speed. She pulled his head away from her breasts, and he whimpered at his loss as she caught his mouth in a hungry kiss. She broke away and began to feather light kisses along his neck. He tipped his head back for her, and soon she screamed with her first orgasm squeezing his shoulders. 

He smiled down at her. She was the most beautiful in the throws of passion. Her lips were parted, her skin was flushed, and her eyes were smoky. No one got to see her like this but him. No one else got to see her look upon them with unconditional love and absolute trust. No one else got to see her let go of all her inhibitions and watch as all the walls that were up during the day came tumbling down. 

He propped himself above her when he realized he couldn’t wait any longer and slid slowly into her. She sighed with contentment, and when he was fully inside her, she clenched her muscles around him. He paused for a moment. This was the moment he cherished. The sense of coming home he got when he first entered her; the sense of peace and serenity it gave him. He dropped his head to her shoulder and gave it a light kiss and her legs slowly wrapped around him. She turned her head toward him, and he to her. His forehead connected with hers and he looked into her eyes, everything that was good about him was shining back. She gave him a little nudge with her hip and he smiled at her as he slowly started to move. 

“You really are demanding tonight.” 

“Don’t snark.” 

“I snark not.” 

She moved with him and screamed out his name as her second orgasm flooded through her, and he picked up speed. He dropped his head to her shoulder again as he listened to her whisper his name. God, he loved when she said his name this way; it sounded sacred, and she always called him by his full name during sex, never Josh. His whole body went tense and where he normally called out her name, it was whisper. All his energy was channeled into his exploding senses that his voice just couldn’t gain power. He dropped to her side and she kissed his forehead gently. 

“Mmm…” he sighed pulling her that last centimeter closer that he could get her. 

“Feeling better?” 

“Are you?” 

“Things are always better when I’m around you.” 

“Did you take a How to Handle Josh Lyman seminar at some point or something?” he laughed. “How is it you ALWAYS know what do or say?” 

“It’s called love, Joshua.” She replied. 

“You’ve known for a long time.” 

“I’ve loved you for a long time.” 

TBC


	7. Making History

Donna hurried along the corridors of the convention center on her way back to the war room. This was becoming the convention that never ended. With each minute that went by, Josh was getting wound tighter and tighter. She knew he’d explode soon, and she wanted to make sure she was there to calm him down when it happened. He’d slept for maybe two or three hours since the convention started and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d successfully gotten any food into him. 

“Donna!” a voice whispered harshly to her right. She stopped abruptly and spun around, not seeing the owner of the voice. 

“Who is that?” she asked. 

“It’s me Will.” 

She squinted a bit and saw Will standing off in a darkened alcove to the side. 

“Will? What the hell are you doing?” 

“I need to talk to you.” He waved for her to come toward him and she looked at him skeptically. 

“What’s with the cloak and dagger stuff?” she asked. 

“I don’t want to be overheard.” 

“Josh will beat you to a pulp if he finds out you were trying to lure me into a dark alcove.” 

“Well, I would have tried to talk to him, if he was the one walking by, but it’s you.” Will hissed. “Just come here.” 

Donna sighed and moved closer. She was starting to think that Will had finally cracked under the pressure and she thought it best to be in plain view at that moment. 

“What do you want?” 

“Is Josh going to leak the stuff about Baker’s wife?” Will demanded. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Baker’s wife.” Will repeated. “She’s been clinically diagnosed as having depression; Baker didn’t disclose it.” 

Donna’s eyes widened in recognition. If what Will was saying was true, that would cripple Baker if it got out. The country already dealt with a President that didn’t disclose an illness; they weren’t about to do it again. 

“One of us should leak it.” Will continued. “It’ll take Baker completely out of the running and get our delegates back. We’ll be the only two viable candidates again.” 

“I don’t know what he’s going to do.” Donna said quickly backing away. “I have to get back; I’ve been gone a while.” 

She hustled faster down the hall. Suddenly, it was absolutely imperative she get to their war room. 

She burst through the door and saw him standing by the fax machine, looking down at something in his hand, a sinking feeling settling over her. He had it. She rushed over to him and he looked up just as she approached him. 

“Donna…” he began. 

“I know.” She said pulling him away from the chaos of the conference table. “I just saw Will and he told me.” 

“This is like striking oil.” He said waving the sheet of paper, which she grabbed out of his hand. 

“Listen to me, Josh.” She said. “You can’t do this.” 

“Baker’s effectively taking us out of this.” Josh replied. “I mostly certainly can do this.” 

“Josh…” 

“His wife has an illness he didn’t disclose, Donna. The country’s been there and done that.” 

“That’s right, Josh. His WIFE’S got the illness, not HIM.” She countered. “The press is going to be all over that poor woman.” 

“We’ve got to get our delegates back, Donna.” He looked at her for a moment. “This is how the game gets played.” He started walking toward the door, and she ran after him. She put herself between him and the door and put a hand up on his chest, stopping his movement. 

“We can’t do this, Josh. It’s not right.” 

“Donna, I stood in the Congressman’s living room and I promised him I would do whatever it took to make him President.” Josh reminded. “This is me fulfilling that promise.” 

“Josh, you’ll see what happens to the Bakers because of this and you’ll never forgive yourself.” 

He studied her for a moment before saying, “Nice try, Donna.” 

He took a step to move around her and she was in front of her again. Damn! Why’d she have to pick the moment he picked up that fax to come back!? The whole thing would have been done a minute and half after he read it, and she wouldn’t have been the wiser. 

“What if it were me?” 

“Don’t go there.” 

“What if it were me?” she repeated. 

“I’m never going to run for office.” He hissed quietly to her. “You’re never going to be in a position like that, and you don’t have anything we’re concealing anyway!” 

“What if I did?” 

“You don’t.” 

“But what if I did?” she asked heatedly. “You’d move heaven and Earth to make sure NO ONE ever found out about it, and I can’t even imagine what you’d do to the person that actually did. It's clinging to eighteenth-century stereotypes of mental illness. Why not attack her for having consumption? Don’t do this to them, please, it’s the man’s wife. She’s done nothing to us.” 

“She’s married to the Governor of Pennsylvania, who just threw his hat into the ring from the floor and is now taking a nice chuck of our delegates. If we lose to Russell, it’ll be Baker’s fault. YOU’RE the one that told me we didn’t sign on to lose! What happened to that, Donna?” 

“It’ll be an empty win, Josh; not one you can be proud of.” 

“I’m sorry, Donna.” He said shaking his head quietly. 

“Please, Josh. For me.” She whispered. 

It wasn’t fair; she knew it wasn’t fair. But what would happen to Mrs. Baker wouldn’t be fair either. It wasn’t right to do, and she knew the Congressman wouldn’t support attacking the man’s wife to win. He’d rather lose and be able to look himself in the mirror than win and know he’d hurt a woman he didn’t even know, she was sure of that much. And Donna was also sure that this would end up being one of the moments in Josh’s career that he wouldn’t be proud of. She knew it would be a regret, and she was reasonably sure he knew it would be a regret, too, but he was willing to do it anyway. 

“Donna…” his voice sounded hoarse, but he was cut off from continuing at the sound of Bram’s voice. 

“Holy shit!” Bram called near the television. Josh and Donna looked over at the tv and saw that the story had broke. Josh didn’t have to do anything after all; and he certainly wasn’t called upon to pick between doing something that he was positive would give Santos his fighting chance back, and not doing it because Donna begged him. 

They watched the television as it showed clips of reporters swarming the Bakers and a reporter talking about depression and concealing illnesses. Donna leaned forward and put her head on his shoulder, turned in the direction of the t.v. 

“Oh, Will.” She sighed softly to the television. 

This was one of those moments that Josh couldn’t touch her. It was one of the moments that the inner demons and angels Toby claimed they all had were battling fiercely and the demons were winning. When he fell victim to these moments, he always found it hard to be around her. She was so sure he wouldn’t have done it because she asked him not to, but he was pretty sure the inner demons were winning when Bram called their attention to the t.v. He’d already been to see Hoynes without her knowledge, this would have been the second play, had she not chosen the exact moment he received the fax to walk into the room. He’d been trading defense contracts for delegates; federal jobs to the delegates of New Jersey, and anything he could think of to get them to progress from ballot to ballot. He’d been a maniac since they got here and a victim to his own tunnel vision. The Congressman did want to flip flop on teacher tenure in order to get Gambelli and the teacher’s union; this was the only option. 

Ronna called over to them and told them that Leo was looking for them. The Congressman, Josh and Donna made their way down to the area they’d been meeting at. Leo informed them that they would recess and resume the ballot the following night, when they would stop this circus and pick a damn nominee. 

 

Donna tugged gently on Josh’s hand. “Let’s go back to the hotel.” She said softly. 

“We’ve got…” he began. 

“Nothing, Josh.” She replied. “There’s nothing to be done now. Let’s go get some sleep. You’ll need to be well rested for tomorrow’s round of smacking around delegates.” 

When they arrived back at the convention hall the next morning, the Congressman had told them about his conversation with Leo, or rather Leo’s conversation with him. Josh pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as the anger washed over him, and Donna calmly took it from his hand before he could finish dialing. The last thing she wanted was for him to fly off the handle at his mentor. Leo was just doing his job, and what the President more than likely sent him to do. 

Josh and Donna walked quietly with Matt and Helen down to the floor when it came down for the Congressman to make his final speech. Right before he walked out on to the stage, Matt turned to Josh and Donna and said, “It was nice ride; we should do it again sometime.” 

Donna gently squeezed Josh’s hand, as it had seemed apparent that Matt was going to go up on stage and gracefully bow out of the race and put his support behind Russell. She felt how tense he was next to her and she turned to his side and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She gave a bitter smile to herself as she realized she was probably mostly doing it to prevent him from punching something, rather than to offer him any kind of comfort. 

They held their breath as the Congressman stood before the quieting crowd for the final time he would address the convention. 

“We're all broken, every single one of us, and yet we pretend that we're not. We all live lives of imperfection, and yet we cling to this fantasy that there's a perfect life, and that our leaders should embody it. But if we expect our leaders to live on some higher moral plane than the rest of us, well, we're just asking to be deceived.” The Congressman began. Josh and Donna looked quickly over at Helen, who smiled knowingly and walked away. 

They stood there and listened in awe as he continued with his speech, smiles breaking out as they realized he wasn’t backing down. He got in it to win and he wasn’t going to go down fighting until the bitter end. Yes, he was right. The delegates shouldn’t be denied their right to choose their nominee. They snapped their heads to look at each other. 

“Holy shit!” Josh laughed. 

“He didn’t do it!” Donna squealed throwing her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. They celebrated there, holding each other tightly and the Congressman appeared at their side. 

“Well then.” He said. “We better go get on some phones.” 

In the end, the President met with Gambelli, who ultimately threw their support behind Santos. They had offered the Vice President slot to Baker, but he had declined, and it went without saying that they weren’t going to offer it to Russell. There was only one other man Josh wanted for the job. Santos was hesitant but after long discussions with Josh and Donna, and then finally the President, Josh went to go find Leo. 

“I thought you guys would be celebrating.” Leo smiled to Josh as he approached him at the table they’d been using for their meetings throughout the convention. 

“Oh, we’ll get to that.” Josh assured. “We’ve got to pick a V.P. first.” 

“Baker?” 

“Didn’t want it.” 

“I don’t suppose…” 

“Absolutely not.” 

“Want me to help you make a list?” Leo offered. 

“Oh, we’ve got it narrowed down to the guy we want. We’re just not sure he’ll accept.” 

“Want the President to call and lean on him?” 

“I’ve already spoken to the President.” Josh explained. “He told me that he’d kick the guy’s ass all over the school yard if it came to that.” 

“Who is it?” Leo smiled upon hearing Josh’s recitation of the President’s words. 

“You.” Josh left the room, leaving a stunned Leo in his wake. 

He found Donna later in the war room looking out over the convention and the Congressman and Leo were taking the stage. He put his hands on her shoulders and she turned around and leaned into him. 

“Want to stay for the speech and festivities?” he asked. 

“No.” she said shaking her head with a slight yawn. “Let’s go back to the hotel and I’ll give you a we beat Will the Weasel lap dance.” 

TBC


	8. Making History

“CJ?” Josh asked amazed. 

“Yes.” Zoe nodded taking a bite of her bagel. 

“CJ.” He said again, a little more definitively. 

“That’s what my dad said.” 

“CJ, the press secretary, has been promoted to chief of staff.” Josh continued. 

“Yes.” 

“What about Toby?” 

“He wanted CJ.” Zoe shrugged. “And the Deputy COS is a republican. My dad can get bi-partisan, but come on.” 

“I’m just surprised.” Josh said pouring more coffee into his mug. 

“Well, you poached his chief of staff to run for vice president. He had to do something.” Zoe returned. 

Donna sat down at the table with them and slid a breakfast plate in front of Josh who immediately scowled at the lack of bacon or sausage on it. 

“Don’t thank me, Joshua.” She snapped. “I just brought you breakfast.” 

“And look, Donnatella.” He replied pointing to the chair she stood before. “Your coffee is waiting for you, just the way you like it. I upheld my end of the breakfast bargain.” Donna flopped down into the chair next to him and took several long sips of her coffee. 

“She’s a little tired this morning.” Josh smirked to Zoe. 

“I don’t want to hear about your sexcapades.” Zoe replied looking suitably disgusted. 

“It’ll make great fodder for your book.” Josh teased. 

“No, I think I’ll pass.” 

“Zoe!” the Congressman greeted entering the conference room of the hotel where they were all meeting for breakfast. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get to really say hello the last few days.” 

“Congratulations, sir.” She greeted. Then she surprised them all by standing up and kissing him on the cheek. Josh figured if anyone could commit an outrageous breach of protocol, it could be the President’s daughter. “And that’s okay. I was plenty entertained between my dad and watching Josh’s perpetual state of nutty.” 

“Thanks a lot.” Josh scoffed. 

“So, Josh,” the Congressman said taking a seat at their table. “you and Donna here have pulled off the next to impossible, ready to tackle the impossible?” 

“Did I or did I not stand in your living room in Texas and tell you that it would not be smooth sailing to the White House?” Josh asked. 

“You did.” Matt nodded. “I didn’t think it’d be quite the rocky waters it’s been so far though.” 

“Well, no one ever does.” 

“But here we are now.” 

“Just like I promised.” 

“What’s next?” the Congressman asked. 

“Endless meetings with the DNC, fundraisers, speeches, spinning, stumping, press appearances, baby kissing, debating, television ads…” Donna droned before dropping her head into her arms on the table. 

Matt arched a brow at her and Josh smirked again. “She’s a little tired this morning.” 

“Sexcapades.” Zoe said nodding to the Congressman, then smiling as a look of pure mortification came across Josh’s face. Zoe smiled sweetly, stood up and grabbed her coffee and walked out of the room. 

“She’s lucky she’s got secret service protection sometimes.” Josh grumbled. 

Matt chuckled then gestured to Donna. “Is she too embarrassed or did she fall asleep?” 

“I think she fell asleep, sir.” 

“Seriously,” the Congressman continued. “what’s next?” 

“You’ll do some shows with Leo today. Then you’ll take a couple of days off, go home to Texas and relax, before we meet back in Washington. Donna and I are going to head back there today, and I’ll start putting together a staff. We’ve got a lot of funding now, so I’ll be requisitioning a plane and a bus.” 

“No more mini-vans?” the Congressman asked. 

“No, sir.” Josh smiled. “A bus and a jet liner with private offices and bedrooms for you.” 

“And then?” 

“You heard Donna.” 

********************** 

“Home!” Donna moaned as they moved through the front door of their apartment. She dropped her various bags as she stumbled through the living room into their bedroom. She pulled back the covers on the bed and crawled in, snuggling down into the pillow and closed her eyes. 

“Donna, it’s 11 o’clock in the morning.” Josh laughed. 

“Tired.” She yawned, but she rolled over to set the alarm to go off 45 minutes from now. 

“We have, like, a million things to do today.” Josh reminded. “We’ve got to get over to the DNC.” 

“YOU’VE got to get over to the DNC.” Donna corrected. “I’VE got to take a nap, go pick up four months worth of mail, drop our entire wardrobes off at the dry cleaners, go to the supermarket, find out what the hell that smell is in here, throw whatever’s not going to the dry cleaners into the washing machine, buy you a new cell phone battery because yours won’t stay charged, take your car to inspection…” 

“Okay, okay. I get it.” He said gently. She wiggled deeper into the mattress and he couldn’t resist stretching out behind her and pulling her close. 

“I think the last time I slept during the day I was recovering from by-pass surgery.” He said softly closing his eyes. 

“It’s a good idea, right?” 

“Mmm-hmm.” He agreed. “Hey, I’m sorry about the convention.” 

“Sorry?” she asked. “We won.” 

“No, I mean for the way I was. I was a maniac.” 

“You were the way you always get when you’re amped up.” She said patting his hand. 

“Well, I should still say I’m sorry.” He countered. “Just because I always get that way, doesn’t make it okay to be that way.” 

“You’re right.” She agreed. “But you were typical Josh. You didn’t do anything that you have to apologize for.” 

“I almost did.” He whispered. 

“You didn’t do anything that you have to apologize for.” She repeated more firmly. 

“Kay.” He said closing his eyes again. 

They drifted off to sleep for 45 minutes of uninterrupted, dreamless sleep. When the alarm went off, Josh felt more rested, but Donna still was groggy. But the next couple of days would be relatively light, so she made a note to try to get more rest. 

“You’re not thinking of getting all that stuff done today are you?” Josh asked moving into the bathroom and turning on the shower. 

“No. I’m going to spread it out over the next few days.” Donna replied. “You know, my few days off.” 

Josh poked his head out of the bathroom. “What about helping me hire a bigger staff?” 

“Hire a communications director and let that person bring on who they need.” Donna replied. “Bring me home resumes and job descriptions and I’ll sift through them at night and start making calls from here. I’m not going there yet, I’m tired.” 

He took a minute to study her and frowned. She did look pretty tired and pale. The last few days of the convention had been physically taxing, and that came at the end of traveling around for four months, with crappy eating habits, which her body wasn’t used to, and less sleep than she normally got. 

“Are you getting sick?” he asked moving toward her with his typical look of concern. 

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. 

“Why don’t you rest some more and start all that stuff tomorrow?” he suggested. 

“I have to at least find that smell, go to the post office and the store. If you want to eat while we’re home, we need food.” She countered. 

“Okay. But save the rest of the stuff for starting tomorrow.” He replied. “You know, why don’t you just take the rest of the week and go back on Monday. If I need you for anything, I’ll call you.” 

“I’m sure I’ll be all right after tomorrow.” She said. 

“Donna, you look like --” 

“You’ll want to be very careful not to insult me right here, Josh.” Donna warned. 

“— hell.” 

“That’s not what I was going for there.” 

“If Zoe saw you, she’d tell you you looked like death on a Triscuit.” 

“Gee, Josh, you really make a girl feel all warm and gooey inside.” She deadpanned. 

“I’m concerned.” 

“I know; you have your concerned face on.” 

“Donna…” 

“I’ll take the rest of the week.” 

TBC


	9. Making History

“I’m sorry to just drop by like this unannounced.” CJ apologized as she followed Josh up the stairs to his apartment. There was one of CJ’s secret service agents in front of them, and one behind them. 

“I told you, it’s fine.” Josh assured. He was a little surprised when he saw her get out of her assigned town car in front of his building and two agents approach him. “I’m just not used to getting frisked before I talk to you is all. You should have called, I would have got enough food for you.” He had talked to Donna earlier in the day and when he asked if she was feeling better, she had candidly answered no. So he told her not to bother with dinner that he’d stop and pick it up on their way home. She had spent most of the night throwing up, so he just got her chicken soup. 

“I’ll eat when I get back to the White House.” 

Josh stopped in front of the door and turned back to her. “Donna’s not feeling very good today. She may not be all that sociable.” 

“That’s okay.” CJ nodded. “It’s really you I was looking to talk to anyway.” 

“Okay.” He shrugged opening the door. They entered the living room as one agent swept around the apartment and the other stood sentry at the door. Josh saw Donna sleeping on the couch, curled under a quilt and looking pretty pale. He put the take out bags on the kitchen table, shrugged off his backpack and headed right over to her. CJ hung back and watched as he kneeled down in front of her, pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, frowned, and gently shook her awake. 

“Donna.” He called softly, and her eyelids slowly fluttered open. “You’re burning up.” He pulled the quilt back to help cool her down and moved to the kitchen. She sat up looking completely disoriented for a minute and he returned with a glass of water for her. She was wearing a tank top and running shorts, her hair pulled up in a messy bun, her skin flushed from the fever. Josh moved to the bathroom and returned a few moments later and handed her some pills. CJ watched as he stroked her face when she drank the water and popped what she assumed to be Motrin or Tylenol for the fever. When she was finished, he took the glass from her hand. She shivered and wrapped herself back up in the quilt. 

“Cold.” She murmured falling back down against the couch pillow. 

“You’re going to a doctor tomorrow.” Josh announced brushing stray hair out of her face. 

“Don’t need a doctor.” She refused. 

“Okay, then.” He said. At first, CJ thought he was just giving up the fight and she found that odd. But he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, scrolled through the contacts, hit send and pressed the phone to his ear. “Hey, Zo, it’s me. No, Donna’s not feeling any better. She won’t go to a doctor. Yup. Uh-huh. Yup. We’ll be here all night. Kay, thanks.” 

“Friggin cheater.” Donna mumbled with her eyes closed. 

“The Rules, Donnatella, The Rules.” He smiled. He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and stood up. 

CJ titled her head to one side and squinted a bit. Though they’d been together for two years now, she never actually saw them interact as a couple. Once they got together, she had never seen them outside of the White House, where they were the picture of professionalism. Then they left for Santos’ campaign and she’d only seen them briefly once since then and that was at the White House. 

It was a little unnerving to see Josh like this. Josh, who was larger than life; the President’s pitbull; the go to man on everything they needed; the one no one wanted to cross. She remembered the day he had yelled at her from Camp David because reporters were calling Donna. She remembered how when she hung up the phone, she actually shuddered. His voice was cold as steel in that conversation and for the first time, it was directed towards her. She never thought his friends would see that side of him, but Donna was being harassed and saw it as her fault, which in a round about way, it kind of was. 

But now, he was so tender dealing with her; so deliberate in his movements, the level of his voice, the pressure of his touch. CJ found herself, not for the first time, wondering if she should take a page out of their book; what was stopping her from taking the necessary steps to be happy like this? Her job; the whole reason why she had come here today. 

Josh turned away from Donna and faced CJ again. “Sorry, CJ.” He said softly moving to the kitchen. “She seems pretty miserable.” 

“You called in the big guns.” CJ smirked referring to his phone call to Zoe. She could only assume the First Lady would be making an appearance at their apartment sometime that night. 

“Yeah, Zoe’s calling Abbey.” Josh smirked. “She would have fought just as dirty if it was me.” 

“She would have had my secret service agents drag your sorry ass into the car and taken you over to GW.” CJ countered with a smile. 

“Well, she’s half dressed at the moment. Secret service or not, doctors and nurses or not, I don’t want anyone else getting a look at her amazing body.” 

“She’s very pretty.” CJ agreed. 

“It’s okay, CJ. You can say it.” Josh laughed. “She’s a goddess.” 

“Glad to hear the magic’s not gone!” 

Josh moved the take out bags to the counter and pulled two beers out of the fridge, opening one up and handing it to CJ, who dropped down into a chair at the table. Josh sat across from her and looked at her expectantly. 

“He made me Chief of Staff.” She announced. 

“I don’t work there anymore, but I don’t live in a bubble.” He replied. 

“You don’t think that’s, I don’t know, insane?” CJ asked. 

“He thinks you can do the job.” Josh shrugged. 

“It’s more than a little overwhelming.” She confessed. 

“I imagine it would be. Secret service protection, a place in the bunker, access to the Situation Room, being elevated to the most powerful woman in the country, dealing with foreign heads of state on a daily basis, not to mention being a woman and dealing with the brass.” Josh ticked off. “Yeah, I can see how it would be unnerving.” 

“Picked me right up there, Josh.” 

“I’m just saying I know why you’re feeling overwhelmed.” 

“What do you think?” 

“I think it’s May and whether we win or loose, you have to do the job for seven more months.” Josh said. “You can stick it out for that. You can call Leo if you need help; you’ve got Kate Harper there and Nancy McNally, who are also women, and will help you with the military stuff, seeing as how they’re better qualified than nearly all the men in the room. You’ve got your resources, use them.” 

“Margaret said she’d stay.” 

“That office doesn’t just come with Margaret?” Josh quipped. 

“She kind of freaks me out.” 

“She freaks everybody out.” 

“But she knows that office backwards and forwards.” CJ sighed. “It should have been your job, you know.” 

“I’m doing my job.” Josh replied. “My job was to go find the next guy, get a bunch of shit from you guys, and pull off the impossible, which I’m not remotely done with.” 

“Sorry, we’ve been giving you a hard time.” CJ said quietly. 

“No one’s ever been sorry for it before.” Josh reminded. 

“Everyone just assumes you’ll do it.” 

“Yeah, that’s an awful lot of pressure to put on someone, CJ. First we get treated like lepers for leaving; now we’ve proven that our guy is THE guy, and we’re still getting, well, all right, Josh, go make him President now, don’t screw it up.” 

CJ looked across the table at him sadly. She was suddenly glad he had Donna. It must get pretty lonely for a guy that has his job. In the White House, everyone was always falling over themselves to congratulate him and share his victories with him; but when he lost, no one would go within ten feet of him; nobody wanted to associate themselves with the guy who didn’t deliver. None but Donna. It’s a tough moment in someone’s life when they realize they weren’t actually the friend they thought they were; they weren’t actually as close to someone as they’d let themselves think they were. 

“I’m sorry, Josh.” CJ said quietly. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, CJ.” He shrugged. “It’s just the way it is, the way it’s always been.” 

Josh snapped his head up in the direction of the living room when he saw Donna bolt off the couch and into the bathroom. He got up from his chair so fast he knocked it over. CJ found herself feeling jealous of Donna; jealous that she had someone as attentive as Josh was. Nobody CJ had been with was ever quite like this. Of course, she wasn’t jealous that Donna was feeling so sick at the moment, but this was always the way Josh was when Donna was out of sorts. When CJ first noticed it years and years ago, long before they were together, she had thought that he was being overbearing. But then came Rosslyn, and she realized this was just how they were. Donna had come to the campaign and Washington, leaving her family behind; Josh had only his mother for family, they were essentially cut off. They had found each other, and this was what they did; they took care of each other. 

She stood up as he was walking back to the kitchen. 

“She’s throwing up again.” He said hooking a finger back towards the bathroom. “I’m gonna…” 

“Yeah, I’m going to head out.” CJ nodded. 

“Kay.” 

“Talk to you soon.” 

“Yup.” He turned back towards the bathroom and CJ slipped silently from the apartment. 

TBC


	10. Making History

“Well, Donna,” the First Lady said pulling the thermometer out of her mouth and holding it up to read, “102 degrees; fever, vomiting, chills, achiness, fatigue. Looks like you’ve got all the makings of a virus.” 

“What? Like the flu?” Josh asked from his position hovering just over Abbey’s shoulder in front of the couch. 

“Well, it’s May and the flu usually goes around in the winter months, though it’s not unheard of in the summer, but it’s something like that, yeah.” Abbey nodded. 

“So, you don’t really do anything for that then, right?” Josh asked. “Blood tests or something?” 

“I can order her blood tests if it makes you feel better, Josh.” Abbey said. “But really, it’s plenty of rest and fluids, treat the symptoms with over the counter medication and she’ll be right as rain soon enough.” 

“Antibiotics?” Josh asked. “Will they help?” 

“Nope.” Abbey responded. “Not if it’s viral. She’s just going to have to ride it out.” 

“How long will that be about?” Josh asked wincing. 

“As early as five days, as many as ten.” Abbey shrugged. 

“Ten days??!!” Josh exploded. “She’s going to feel this shitty for TWO WEEKS?” 

“Could be as few as four or five.” Abbey replied ignoring his tone. “It’s a bug. If she gets any worse, I’ll send her for blood work. Otherwise, like I said, plenty of rest, plenty of fluids. That’s important; water, Gatorade, keep her hydrated, nothing sugary. And you can treat the fever, et cetera with over the counter medication. Grab some Tylenol Flu, that’ll probably do the job. It’ll also perk her up and she’ll feel a little better. Try and get her to eat bland foods. She’s been vomiting, so her stomach is probably pretty sensitive right now.” 

Abbey smiled as Josh looked down at Donna helplessly. “And Josh, make sure you wash your hands a lot. You don’t want to get this, too. You have a campaign to run.” Josh waved his hand as if to say, “Screw the campaign,” and Abbey smiled as she wondered if he was serious. If it had been Jed, or Leo, or Toby standing there making that gesture, she knew it would have been empty, but this was Josh they were dealing with here, and a sick Donna. Josh had already proven to them what, or who rather, was more important to him. It gave Abbey hope that at least one of them had made it through the last eight years with something to hold onto at the end. 

“All right, Donna.” Abbey said standing up, and leaning over to brush the hair out of her face. “I’m leaving you now; I’ll be back in a few days to check on you. You feel better.” 

“Thank you, ma’am.” Donna whispered almost inaudibly. 

“You’ve got Josh here.” Abbey said. “So, hopefully he won’t, you know, annoy the shit out of you too much.” Josh smirked at the First Lady unamused and walked her to the door, thanking her as she left. He moved back to kneel in front of the couch and she smiled weakly at him. 

“Hey,” he said softly. “you want me to help you to the bedroom? You might be more comfortable in there.” 

“I want to stay by you.” 

“I’ll stay in there with you, if you want.” He said. 

“Kay.” 

He gently helped her off the couch and slowly into the bedroom, pulling back the blankets so she could climb in. He got undressed and climbed in next to her and she curled up against him. The difference between him when he was sick and Donna when she was sick was like night and day. He was whiny, and needy, and felt completely betrayed if he wasn’t showered with 100 percent of her attention. He’d been like that pretty much since the day they met, but never more so than after he got shot when he really saw how well she took care of him, and what it was like to be cared for by someone who loved you. Donna on the other hand, usually just stayed where she dropped and retreated into herself. She barely spoke, even when spoken to. It was kind of unnerving since Josh felt that no one on the planet talked more than Donna did. 

“Sorry I’m not going to be much help to you this week.” She apologized softly. 

“Don’t worry; I’ll just save it all for when you come back.” 

“Josh.” 

“It’ll take you months to dig out from under it.” 

“Stop.” 

“You’re sick, Donna. When’s the last time you’ve been sick?” 

“Last year.” 

“No, that was injured. When was the last time you took a day off because you were sick?” 

“Uh…” 

“My point exactly.” He replied. “I don’t mind if you call in sick every seven years.” 

“We’re supposed to go on the road next week.” 

“Which is why you need to take this week.” 

“Josh.” 

“Don’t talk anymore.” He ordered. “Go back to sleep.” 

“But it was important.” 

“Okay. What was so important?” 

“I love you.” 

“Oh. Yes, that’s important.” He agreed kissing her forehead. “I love you, too.” 

**************************** 

“I did what you said.” Josh announced walking through the front door of their apartment. 

Donna quickly closed her laptop and looked up at him. 

“Whatcha doing?” he asked. 

“Nothing.” She said quickly. 

“What were you looking at?” he smirked. 

“Nothing.” She repeated shaking her head. 

“Donnatella.” He sang. “I know that look. That’s you’re ‘oh shit, I’m busted’ look.” 

“I’ve got no such look.” She dismissed. 

“In fact, you do.” He replied. “And you’re wearing it now.” 

“What did I say that you did?” she asked. 

“That was a violent butchering of the English language. If I was talking to Toby, I’d call him and rat you out.” 

“You should talk to Toby.” 

“No more misdirection. What were you looking at?” 

“Fine. Bigger places.” 

“I thought we tabled that until such time came as a bigger place was needed.” 

“We did.” 

“So do we need a bigger place then?” 

“No.” 

“Okay.” 

“What’d you do?” 

“I hired a communications director.” He announced. “She’s everything I hate, so you two should get along nicely.” 

“I’m everything you hate?” 

“No. You usually like the people I hate.” 

“You hired a republican communications director?” 

“Almost everything I hate.” 

“Who is it?” 

“Louise Thornton.” 

“I know that name; you don’t like her.” 

“Yeah, but she’s good at her job.” He acknowledged. 

“She seems to think we have a mommy problem.” 

“She thinks the Congressman is too hot?” 

“Yes.” 

“Hmm.” Donna said thoughtfully. 

“Donna?” he asked when she didn’t start speaking again. 

“Yeah?” she asked, though she still seemed distracted. 

“You seem to have wandered off.” 

“I’m trying to decide if she’s right.” 

“You’re taking a mental inventory of the Congressman’s physical attributes?” he squeaked. 

“He is very handsome.” Donna noted. 

“Donna!” 

“I’ve seen him in casual dress; he does seem to have a nice body.” She continued. 

“This conversation has gotten away from me.” Josh muttered. 

“Tall, dark, and handsome.” 

“This conversation is so far away from me right now, the rest of it’s in Maryland.” 

“Josh, you brought it up. You didn’t want to discuss it with me?” she reminded. 

“No.” he confessed. “I was just saying.” 

“Oh. Well, I’ve been the one doing most of the handling of the public appearances and image.” 

“Yes, I know.” 

“So, Louise --” 

“She likes to be called Lou.” 

“Lou thinks I’ve made him too hot?” Donna asked. 

“She thinks we’re going to have a Mommy problem.” He shrugged. “She’s hiring a staff.” 

“SHE’S hiring a staff?” Donna asked. “You mean she’s giving you recommendations and YOU’RE hiring her a staff.” 

“No. One of her conditions of coming on board was she answers to the Congressman and not me. He went for it.” Josh explained. 

“Are you kidding me?” 

“This whole day has pretty much gotten away from me.” Josh acknowledge. 

“You really can’t survive professionally without me.” Donna said incredulously. 

“I really can’t.” 

“Did you even eat today?” 

“I think so.” 

“You’re amazing.” 

“I am quite something.” 

“What the hell happened there today?” 

“I hired a communications director.” 

“Did YOU hire her or did she hire herself?” Donna demanded. “Because that tends to happen to you, too.” 

“Okay. You’re the only one that’s ever done that.” He replied. “And I pretty much had to beg her to come on board.” 

“So, you begged her to work for us, and she conned the Congressman into not reporting to you and being allowed to hire her own staff.” Donna surmised. 

“Um…yeah, that’s pretty much the way that went.” 

“Again I ask, what the hell happened there today?” she demanded. 

“I’m not really sure now.” 

TBC


	11. Making History

Donna boarded the Santos campaign bus with Josh right behind her, who was talking to Otto and Lou over his shoulder. It looked a lot larger than she remembered the Bartlet bus being. She didn’t remember President Bartlet ever having an office during the first campaign. Of course, her memory is a little stilted by traveling by Air Force One for so many years, so maybe this was about on target. She spied an empty bench alongside the bus and made right for it. She stored her tote bag and lap top over head, and pulled Josh’s back pack and lap top off his shoulder as he turned to continue talking to Otto and Lou, once all their stuff was stored, she dropped down onto the bench. 

It was 5:30 in the morning and they were taking the bus all way down to Florida, with a stop in South Carolina first. God she missed Air Force One! She asked Josh why they couldn’t take the plane, but he said they weren’t traveling far enough for it. She leaned her head up against a wall that was separating the bench from a kitchen station and closed her eyes. She heard Josh’s frustration level with Otto and Lou rising, and quite frankly it was too early in the morning, and she was still a little tired in general from being sick, that she just didn’t want to deal with it now. 

“Josh.” She said without opening her eyes. 

“Yeah?” 

“Come here.” She said waving her hand. 

“Just a sec.” he said turning back to Otto and Lou to resume his argument. 

“Josh.” She said again. 

“Yeah?” he asked again turning towards her. Keeping her eyes closed, she patted her lap signaling for him to stop it and come sit by her. 

“Kay.” He sighed. He stretched out on the bench and dropped his head to her lap, her hand immediately dropping to his temple and beginning to lightly stroke his hair. 

“If I didn’t know better, I swear to God, I’d think she just told you to heel.” Lou observed. 

“You don’t know better.” Josh replied closing his eyes. “That’s exactly what she did.” 

“So, we’re done with this?” Otto asked. “I thought we had to go over the speech for Miami and the remarks for Charleston still.” 

“Otto,” Donna said finally opening her eyes and taking her head off the wall. “it’s 5:30 in the morning, and this is an eight hour bus ride. Welcome to the crappy part of the campaign trail. We will have PLENTY of time to go over everything you need to. I promise. Let me tell you something about Josh when he gets up at ridiculous hours of the morning then spends eight hours on a bus. He is not his normal pleasant self at the end of the day. I say this for your own protection.” 

Otto raised his eyebrows to Lou. “Don’t look at me.” Lou said. “I’m taking this other bench. You’re in the back with the other rookies.” To prove her point, she dumped her stuff on the floor, grabbed a pillow and blanket out of the overhead compartment, and settled herself down across the entirety of the bench opposite Josh and Donna. 

“Must be nice.” Otto mumbled. 

“Go away.” Lou ordered. 

“Well, done.” Josh complimented her from Donna’s lap. 

“Are you kidding me?” shrieked a female voice. Josh opened one eye at Zoe’s outburst. 

“What?” he asked. 

“I always get the up front seats.” She reminded him. “Both campaigns, I sat up here.” 

“You’re the one who’s writing a book about the campaign experience. Go on back and have a campaign experience.” Josh countered. 

“I could just have Doug or Jack kung-fu your ass off that bench so I can sit there.” Zoe retorted. 

“They’re not going to do that.” 

“I’ll lay on the floor before I go back there.” She said defiantly. 

“First of all, your father will freak out if he finds out about that.” Josh said. “Secondly, Doug and Jack aren’t going to let you do that anyway.” 

“If I sit back there, people might touch me in weird places.” She replied. 

“You have two enormous men with you packing heat, NO ONE is touching you in any weird places.” Josh said. 

“What about you? If someone touches me in a weird place, are you going to kick their ass?” she asked. 

“You think I’m going to do a better job than Doug and Jack?” 

“No. But girls like to hear that kind of thing.” 

“To the back of the bus, babe!” he ordered. Zoe stuck her tongue out at him and then huffed to the back of the bus. 

“You always talk to the President’s daughter like that?” Lou asked. 

“No.” Josh replied. “Sometimes I’m mean.” 

**************************

“Okay, so that’s it.” Josh said standing in the lobby of the hotel in Miami, encircled by Ronna, Donna, Lou, Otto, and Bram. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon before the speech. If anything pops up before that, call me on my cell. Otherwise, Donna and I will be spending the next 24 hours being completely harassed by my mother in West Palm Beach.” 

As he finished speaking, Zoe walked up with her agents in tow and stood waiting just beyond them. Josh noticed her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. 

“Where are you going?” he asked her. 

“With you.” She said matter of factly. 

“What?” he asked. 

“You said you were going to your mom’s tonight.” Zoe explained. 

“Yeah.” 

“Whenever you go see your mom, she makes that awesome apple pie and I’m not missing it.” Zoe replied. “I’m coming with you.” 

“What if I didn’t want you to come?” Josh asked. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, you love my company.” She scoffed. 

“Strangely, I do.” He replied. “How do you know there’s enough room at my mom’s for you?” 

“I’ll sleep on the futon in the den.” She shrugged. 

“How do you even know my mother has a futon in her den?” Josh asked incredulously. “Or a den for that matter.” 

“She told me.” 

“When?” 

“She emailed me.” 

“My mother emails you?” 

“She emailed me two years ago when I was spending the summer with my mom in New Hampshire.” Zoe replied. It took Josh a second to realize she was referring to the months after her abduction when the First Lady whisked her away. 

“Ah, yes.” 

“It was the same time she gave me an open invitation to stay with her if I ever found myself in this neck of the woods.” She returned, hiking her overnight bag up onto her shoulder. “Unless you just want to tell her that I’m in town but you said I wasn’t allowed to come see her?” 

“No, I don’t want a piece of that.” Josh quickly said. 

“Okay then.” 

“Are you two finished then?” Donna sighed. 

“Yup.” Zoe smiled. 

About an hour later, the secret service was knocking on the door of Josh’s mother’s condo while Donna, Josh, and Zoe hung back on the steps. They heard the front door open and the secret service identify themselves and ask if one of the agents could sweep the house. 

“Joshua, who the hell did you bring with you?” his mother demanded from the door. 

“It’s me, Mrs. Lyman.” Zoe called. 

“Oh dear Lord, is that Zoe?” she asked. 

“Yes, it is.” She called back. “Did you make your apple pie?” Josh smacked her in the arm in response to her question. 

“What the hell was that for?” she demanded. 

“What the hell kind of manners are those?” he replied. “Your parents taught you better than that.” 

“Joshua, stop harassing the President’s daughter.” His mother chided from the doorstep. “It’s rude. The pie’s in the oven now, dear.” Donna stifled a giggle and Josh rolled his eyes as the secret service approved their entrance. Josh’s mom hugged each of them in turn, but Josh was happy to see his hug was the longest. At least he was reasonably sure she still loved him the most. 

They moved into the living room of the spacious, brightly decorated condo and Josh’s mom went to get a round of beer for everyone. 

“This is what I love about your mom, Josh.” Zoe smiled as she accepted her bottle of beer. “Most moms offer you lemonade or something in the afternoon, your mom doesn’t bother with the pretenses.” 

“Oh please,” Josh’s mother dismissed “I wasn’t born yesterday. This is Joshua’s third presidential campaign. I remember how stressful he says they are. How are you feeling, Donna?” 

“I’m still a little tired, Sylvia.” Donna confessed. “But I’m doing well.” 

“You know, you could be tired because you’re pregnant.” Sylvia said casually. 

“Well, that was a new record.” Josh scoffed. “We’ve been here like three minutes.” 

“I’m not pregnant.” Donna laughed. 

“I don’t mind a grandchild out of wedlock.” Sylvia reminded. “And Joshua’s not getting any younger.” 

“Thanks, mom.” 

“Yes, I do know your loose requirements on the grandchildren front.” Donna smiled. “But it was just a virus. I even saw a doctor and everything.” 

“And what kind of quack did you see that didn’t check for a pregnancy?” Sylvia demanded. 

“The First Lady.” Josh replied. 

“Oh, well okay then.” His mother said disappointed. “I’m the only one, Joshua.” 

“I know you are.” He sighed. 

“The only what?” Zoe asked. 

“Person I know here without a grandchild to show off.” Sylvia said shaking her head. 

“Oh well, you can show me off, if you want.” Zoe offered. 

“Really dear? That’ll be fun. I’ll have tangible evidence to show Patty Flannigan that Joshua really does have an important job.” 

“Because my many appearances on Larry King, Face the Nation, Meet the Press and any number of other political talk shows isn’t proof enough.” He replied. 

“Let’s go.” Zoe said to Josh’s mother standing up. “Where does Patty live?” 

“A couple of doors down.” She answered. 

“Good. We’ll leave grumpy here.” Zoe replied. Josh rolled his eyes as Zoe and his mother linked arms and left the condo with Zoe’s agents. 

“My mother’s impossible.” He sighed to Donna. 

“So’s Zoe; they a perfect pair.” She smiled. 

“They’ve also left us alone for the time being.” He said softly brushing her hair off her shoulder. 

“Josh…” she said as he leaned over to kiss the part of her neck he just exposed. “We’re at your mother’s house.” 

“She’s the one that wants grandchildren!” he protested. “She doesn’t think THIS is how she’s going to get them?” 

“Well, that’s a fair point.” She conceded. He tugged on her hand and she moved over to him and straddled his lap. 

“Wow.” He replied. “This wasn’t exactly what I was after, but I like this plan, too.” 

She smiled down at him for a moment before her face got serious. 

“What is it?” 

“When are we going to have our after-the-election talk?” she asked. 

“Umm…after the election?” he asked in return. 

“Josh,” she said lightly smacking his upper arm. “I’m serious.” 

“It’s June.” He said. “You’re talking about November. We have a whole campaign in between.” 

“Yeah, but we’re alone right now, and we’ve got some down time, can’t we do it now?” she asked. 

He was going to tell her that he didn’t really want to think about it now. They had five months to formulate a plan. It was going to be a tough campaign and he really didn’t see the point in discussing this topic until, like, October. But she was looking down at her all doe-eyed and he couldn’t deny her. Plus, Donna didn’t like surprises, at least, surprises for herself. She was organized and always planned ahead. In fact, it’s one of the major things he counted on her for. She was always prepared for any eventuality. She was an enigma to him that way really. 

“Kay.” He agreed. 

“Let’s start on if we win and he offers you Chief of Staff.” Donna began. “16 hour days every day isn’t going to fly.” 

“I already told you that I won’t let that job ruin my marriage like it did to Leo’s.” Josh assured. “That’s assuming I even accepted the offer.” 

“You seriously don’t think you would?” she asked wide eyed. 

“It would depend on if he and I could come to some kind of understanding.” Josh shrugged. “I’m not interested in constant 16 hour days; a crisis is one thing, a regular 16 hour day is something completely different.” 

“Okay. Well, win or lose, we’re leaving for vacation the day after the election.” Donna announced. “Someplace beautiful, and romantic, and--” 

“Where we can get married.” He interrupted. 

“Really?” she smiled hugely and kissed him when he nodded his head. “I’m going to have to tell our parents where we’re going then.” 

“I figured.” 

“What if we lose?” 

“I’ll get a job at a law firm.” He quipped. 

“Be serious.” She said smacking him again. 

“I could make a very good lawyer if I wanted to be.” He exclaimed indignantly. “I can argue.” 

“Oh yes, you can.” She agreed. “And I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you would be an outstanding lawyer, but I said we’re being serious here.” 

“Private sector.” He shrugged. 

“In DC?” 

“You don’t want to stay in DC?” 

“I don’t know.” She confessed. “Maybe work in DC but live somewhere else?” 

“I could probably get used to that if you didn’t want to live in the city anymore.” He agreed. 

“Really?” 

“I have a feeling there’s a house somewhere in my future after the election either way.” He smirked and she dropped her gaze and blushed. “Am I right?” 

“You only seem interested if we’re having a baby.” She said quietly. 

He shrugged. “I have no doubt you’ll take me into it.” He assured. 

“Have I already?” 

“No.” 

“Josh!” she huffed. 

“I’m going to kiss that pout right off your face.” He laughed. She huffed again and dropped her head, but he pulled it back up to him. “Why is this so important?” 

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s the commitment of it.” 

“The commitment of it?” he repeated. “Donna, are you not sure of my commitment to you?” 

“No. I mean, yes. I mean, I know.” She said. “It’s just, you know, the way it goes. You get married; you buy a house.” 

“This is the way it goes in the mind of Donnatella.” Josh surmised and she nodded. “Okay.” 

“Okay?” 

“If it’s important to you, it’s important to me.” He finalized. “After the election, we’ll buy a house.” 

“Really?” 

“Why the hell not?” he replied. 

“Josh!” 

“Donna, you should know by now I’ll do anything to keep you happy. If it’s a house in suburban Maryland, though I’d much rather Northern Virginia, then so be it.” 

She leaned in and kissed him and he wrapped his arms around her and ran a hand up into her hair, as she brought her hands up to his face. Just as the kiss started to get out of hand, they were interrupted. 

“Good God, get a room!” they heard Zoe order. 

“Joshua, dear, to give me my grandchildren, you need to be doing that naked.” 

TBC


	12. Making History

“Acts like a man, eats like man?” Josh asked as walked into their apartment where Donna was getting ready for Ellie’s wedding. “That’s the best you could come up with?” 

“Hey, I asked you about it before I did it, you said nothing.” She countered. “What was I supposed to say, yes, we want you to make him the commander in chief of the most powerful Army in the history of the world, just don’t give him a cheesesteak because he’s completely inept with them? Don’t base his competency to handle nuclear codes on his incompetence in handling a cheesesteak? Cut me some slack here.” 

“Why do we have to even comment on a stupid cheesesteak?” Josh replied. “I mean, who cares if he’s a messy eater?” 

“Well, this IS the man we’re asking the American public to send to foreign state dinners to represent our country.” Donna replied. 

“Hmm…one of your rare valid points.” 

“See, I’m still proving my valuableness.” She smiled. “I got something new every day.” 

“Trust me, Donna,” Josh whispered huskily pulling her into his arms. “you far exceeded your valuable promise years ago.” He pulled her earlobe into his mouth and she smacked him in the arm and pulled away, pointing to the bathroom for him to shower. 

“Is that the dress you’re wearing to the wedding?” he asked. 

“No, I was just lounging around in this evening gown.” Donna replied. “Have you ever seen me go to work in something like this, Joshua?” 

“I would have gotten a lot less accomplished if you did.” He replied. “I’m just wondering.” 

“Why?” 

“No reason.” He said stepping into the shower. 

“Okay. Now I’m getting paranoid.” Donna said following him into the bathroom. “You don’t like it?” 

“Can it get anymore low cut?” he countered. 

“Yes.” Donna said. “As a matter of fact, I do have dresses that are more low cut that this little number.” 

“Huh.” He said from the shower. 

“What?” 

He poked his head out from behind the shower curtain and smirked at her. “You look beautiful.” 

“But do I look slutty or something?” 

“What? No!” 

“Then why did you ask me that?” 

“Because you look beautiful, that’s an amazing color on you, and I’m going to beating the men back from you with a stick.” He called back. “Well, when I’m not pulling the knife out of my back that Barry Goodwin put there. I think I’m getting fired tonight.” 

“Well…” Donna began but trailed off. 

“Well what?” he asked. 

“Nothing.” 

“Donna!” 

“I was going to give you some canned line about how I was sure you weren’t, but I didn’t think I could carry it off.” She admitted. “I just hope the Congressman keeps in mind that he’s been with you since the beginning and Barry Goodwin is just a fat old guy talking out his ass from the safety of the DNC offices and never campaigned a day in his misbegotten life.” 

“Okay. I guess that was supportive there.” 

Donna moved back to the bedroom to put her jewelry on. The sight of Josh’s naked, wet body was sure to make them embarrassingly late to the wedding if she stayed in the bathroom. 

“So then we might have to have that employment after the election talk earlier.” 

“Right after you bail me out of jail for pipe bombing the DNC.” 

“That’s the support I’m looking for!” he said with fake enthusiasm. Donna moved into the closet to locate her shoes as Josh continued talking from the bathroom. “So, Zoe found a last minute date for tonight.” 

“Charlie?” Donna called from the closet. Once she fished her shoes out, she unzipped the bag for his tux and worked it off the hanger. 

“Nope. Otto.” 

“Otto?” 

“Yeah. Think that will piss Charlie off?” 

“I think it’ll piss Lou off.” Donna said, though not very loudly. 

“Piss Lou off did you say?” Josh asked. “Why does Lou care if Otto goes to Ellie’s wedding as Zoe’s date?” 

“Oh, I don’t know.” Donna backpedaled. “She was probably expecting him to work tonight.” 

“I just wouldn’t have ever thought Otto and Zoe.” Josh said entering the bedroom in boxers and a t-shirt. 

“You and me both.” Donna mumbled. 

“Okay. What am I missing?” Josh demanded. “What the underlying issue with this?” 

“Seriously, Josh, it’s too close to the election for you to take a piece of the behind the scenes Melrose Place workings of a campaign.” Donna replied. “Especially tonight.” 

************************* 

“I just met the President.” Otto breathed amazed as he walked up to where Donna was standing by the bar at the reception in the East Room. 

“I saw that.” She noted. Josh had disappeared again, and she was growing more and more concerned. The whole room seemed to be buzzing about a shake up in the campaign. 

“He doesn’t like me.” Otto said. 

“You’re here as his youngest daughter’s date.” Donna reminded. “Of course he doesn’t like you.” 

“Did he like any of the other guys she dated?” Otto asked. 

“Charlie Young, yes.” Donna answered. “Jean Paul, I definitely got the impression he didn’t like him. I know Josh didn’t, and well, neither did Charlie.” 

“Well, I tried to tell him that I was just as surprised as anybody that she asked me to come here tonight with her.” Otto explained. “But he didn’t seem to go for that.” 

“Otto,” Donna groaned, “The President is a world class mind. He’s got a Nobel prize. He will outwit you every time. The man will twist anything you say into something he doesn’t like if he’s in a mood. You were surprised she asked you? Is his daughter not worthy of you?” 

“That’s what he said!” 

“Yeah.” Donna sighed. “Way to make an impression there, Otto.” 

“Maybe Josh will fix it for me.” Otto said hopefully. 

“Otto, I think the last thing you should ask Josh tonight is to help you get the President to like you, especially as it relates to being Zoe’s date.” Donna said. 

“Yeah, you’re right. People are talking about him tonight.” 

“People are always talking about Josh.” She defended. 

“Sounds like we might have a new boss after tonight.” 

“I wouldn’t bet the bank on that.” Donna shot back. “And if that DOES happen, this part of that we won’t be there. I’m not going to stick around while the DNC installs some tight ass to drive Josh’s campaign into the ground.” She sipped her wine as she saw Josh entered the East Room and scan the crowd for her. “Get out of here, now.” She shooed Otto away. “He’s back. Everyone might have to take cover.” 

Josh’s eyes found hers and he began to move through the crowd toward her. It was the one time, she saw him move through the White House that he wasn’t stopped repeatedly along the way. Otto slipped away just before Josh made it over to Donna. Josh pulled her wine glass out of her hand, grabbed her other hand and led her out onto the dance floor. 

“Well, I can get drunk now.” He announced pulling her into his arms. 

“Are we drinking in celebration, or crying in our beers?” she asked. 

“Well, I get to keep my job, so I guess it’s celebrating.” He sighed. “But I don’t think it’s the last we’ll see of Barry Goodwin.” 

“It’s hard to defeat the undead.” Donna sighed dramatically and Josh laughed into her shoulder. Josh felt a tap on his shoulder and they turned to see the President standing there. 

“Good evening, sir.” Josh greeted. 

“Josh, I’m cutting in on you.” The President announced. “And since I’m cutting in on you, YOU are free to go cut in on my youngest daughter and…and…and that guy.” 

“Well said, sir.” Josh complimented. He gave Donna a quick kiss and headed off to cut in on Zoe and Otto. Donna smiled brightly and began to dance with the President. 

“We miss you around here, Donnatella.” The President smiled. 

“I actually miss it here, too, sir.” Donna confessed. 

“You can always come back.” The President offered. “You do well on television and we’ve found ourselves without a press secretary.” 

“That’s quite a tempting offer, sir.” Donna smiled. “But I’m not sure I could stand up to the wolves of the White House press corps. Besides, I want to see this job through to the bitter end.” 

“And, of course, I’m sure it doesn’t have anything to do with the campaign manager, does it?” the President said and he smiled at Donna’s blush. “You two really are quite the team.” 

She smiled again and threw a quick glance over at Josh, who had successfully cut in on Zoe and Otto, and of course, they looked like they were sparring. 

“Did I tell you you look beautiful?” Josh asked Zoe as they moved around the floor. “This is a great color on you. What would you call this color? Tapioca?” 

“All right, all right, laugh it up.” Zoe scoffed. “It’s not my fault my sister has hideous taste in bridesmaid dresses and no one thought to change her mind.” 

“No, I’m sure you and Liz will look precious on the cover of People in these next month.” Josh laughed. 

“I can’t believe you cut in on me.” Zoe admonished changing the subject. 

“Your father made off with my woman and ordered me to cut in on you.” Josh said. 

“You realize you just made the President of the United States sound like a pimp?” Zoe laughed. 

“I’m a talented man.” 

“He told you to cut in on me?” 

“I would have asked you to dance sooner or later tonight.” Josh assured. 

“No, I know you would have.” She replied. “I just brought him because he’s a nice guy and the only person on the campaign that’s close to my age. I have you to thank, really. I started talking to him when you booted me to the back of the bus.” 

“Stay away from campaign flings.” Josh warned. 

“First of all, you’re not the boss of me. Secondly, my parents raised me better than that, more or less. And thirdly, you think I want to end up like my sister?” she ticked off. 

“Sshh!” Josh hissed covering her mouth with his hand. “Why don’t you stand at the press podium and say that?” 

“It’s not your job to protect my father anymore, Josh.” 

“It’ll always be my job.” He disagreed. “And even if it wouldn’t be, just because I don’t work here anymore doesn’t mean I don’t respect him. So shut the hell up about the thirdly.” 

The song ended and Josh led Zoe off the dance floor. Before she knew where he was taking her, she was deposited firmly with her parents and he quickly escaped to find Donna. He found her standing by the door talking with CJ and Cliff. He walked up, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. 

“Josh.” Cliff greeted nodding his head. 

“Cliff.” Josh replied. 

“Hi, Josh.” CJ greeted. 

“Hi, CJ.” Josh said quickly. “You look very pretty tonight. See you later.” Before Donna could say anything, he had pulled her out the door and they were walking down the corridor away from the wedding. 

“Well, that was barely civil.” She noted dryly. 

“Did I insult him?” 

“No.” 

“What are you complaining about then?” 

“I guess it was an as expected.” She sighed. 

He stopped in the middle of the corridor, pulled her to him and kissed her. It was a deep and passionate kiss and she leaned into him grabbing onto his jacket to keep her balance. He brought his hands up to her face and deepened the kiss. Amazingly, somehow Donna was able to recall they were standing in the middle of the White House and pulled back, although looking a little dazed. Josh flicked a glance back to the entrance to the East Room. Sure enough, there was Cliff looking down the corridor. Their eyes met and Cliff quickly looked away and moved out of view. With a victorious smirk, Josh took Donna by the hand and led her out of the White House. 

TBC


	13. Making History

“The President's wheels-up is in an hour.” Josh said to Donna as they walked through the war room. 

“Tray tables and all.” She quipped in return. 

“I want you to lead a couple of reporters toward those documents about Vinick and San Andreo.” He said dropping his voice so no one else would hear. 

“I thought you didn't want our fingerprints on it.” She asked turning to him stunned. 

“Just drop hints. Ask leading questions. Do it off the record.” 

“That's going to get out. You were the one who didn't want to…” 

“Once the President bear hugs Vinick, the game is over.” 

“Does the Congressman know about this?” 

“Just ... go.” He whispered. 

“Leading questions.” She repeated. 

“Or we blow the biggest chance to win this thing we're ever going to get.” 

He tried to look away as she walked out of the war room, but it was too late. The look of disbelief in her eyes was burned on his brain. He was so absolute in his order, she didn’t even question him again. And she knew…she knew that Congressman didn’t know about that. She knew he was more than likely going against the Congressman’s wishes and she went to carry out his order anyway. He had made the decision for them…if I go, I’m taking you with me. He really had no right to drag her into it. It was his decision, he should have just done it himself, but he asked her. No, he downright ordered her. 

She walked back into the war room a few minutes later, just as the story was breaking on t.v. and the room stopped to watch in shock. A low buzz began in the room as everyone started talking quietly on what it meant for them. The Congressman came out of the back bedroom and gave him a long look and Josh knew he was trying to figure out if Josh was responsible. Once again, someone had beat him to the punch. But if that person had been an hour later, he would have been responsible. But he didn’t feel bad. 

Until he looked at her. 

As usual, in her he saw his conscience. And in this moment, he could have sworn that his conscience didn’t approve. He could have been imagining it, but she looked disappointed. He could take many looks from her, but disappointment wasn’t one of them. He gave her one last look then walked by her out of the room. He was pretty sure she didn’t follow. 

He walked down the hall to the elevator and hit the down button. When the door didn’t immediately open, he let out a frustrated sigh and headed immediately for the stairs. He needed to keep moving for the moment. If he stopped, she’d find him. He knew he had to eventually face her, but now wasn’t the time. 

He made it down to the floor their room was on and pushed open the door and ran down the hall. For the first time ever, he got the door open on the first swipe of the key card. If he had been in a different head space, he might have taken a moment to revel in the victory of mastering the elusive hotel door lock, but instead he slammed the door shut behind him. He swore loudly and punched the wall, immediately regretting that action as he felt the aftershock from the impact of his fist to the wall all the way up to his shoulder. 

He sat down on the edge of the bed and aggressively ran his hands through his hair, then dropped his face into his hands and took in a deep breath, letting it slowly out. He heard the soft click of the door shut and moments later, felt the heat of her touch on his cheek. He felt the tension in him ebb away and he willed it to return. She had come to slay his demons again. 

“Go away.” He said softly. 

Go away! She shrieked inwardly. Go away and leave him like this? Was he crazy? 

“No, I don’t think I will.” She replied. 

He hopped off the bed and moved away from her, but she took a step or two towards him anyway. The tension radiating off him filled the room. He was particularly worked up this time. 

“I don’t like when you’re around me like this.” He confessed. “I feel…” 

“What?” 

“I feel dangerous.” He said softly sliding against the wall and sitting on the floor. She slowly moved over to him and sat in front of him, leaning up against the bed. “I feel out of control.” 

“You could never be dangerous to me.” She said. “You’re not beating me up or yelling at me. That is controlling it.” She reached out to his cheek again, and this time he covered her hand with his. He expected he’d feel vulnerable at this point. Instead, he felt…protected. She did that each and every time. She never saw it as a weakness. “You control it all the time, but sometimes it gets the better of you. It doesn’t go away. Trust me, I’ve researched it.” He smirked at her remark because whenever she researched anything, she did it exhaustively. She stood up and pulled him with her. “Lay down.” She ordered. 

“The story broke.” He reminded her. “We need to strategize.” 

“The story will be there in an hour.” She assured. “And so will Lou and the Congressman. Lay down.” She had her body between him and the door, so he’d literally have to go through her to get out of the room. He figured that wouldn’t go over too well, so he stretched out across the bed with a sigh, and she sat by his head rubbing his temples. 

“Donna…” he began looking up at her. 

“It’s okay.” She said softly. 

“It’s not.” 

“It is.” She nodded. “Turns out I didn’t have to say a word, they already had it.” He moved his head to her lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. And to his complete astonishment later, slept. 

*********************** 

“Tied.” Josh sighed. 

“And I get to meet Bono.” Donna smiled as she curled against them in bed. They’d been unexpectedly called back to Washington tonight by the President. Though it had been inconvenient and Josh wanted to get to California to exploit the momentum of finally tying Vinick in the polls, the President called both candidates to the White House that evening. 

“And Bono is an even bigger deal than Jon Bon Jovi?” 

“He’s Bono, Josh. Even Ronna was excited.” 

“I can’t believe we finally caught him. I thought we were never going to get here.” 

“You’re the one that said it wasn’t going to be smooth sailing.” 

“Still.” He shrugged. 

“I booked our vacation.” She blurted. “The Saturday after the election we leave.” 

“Not the day after?” he smiled. “You seemed pretty intent on that.” 

“I figured you’d be too hungover to fly.” She shrugged. “For one reason or another, I’m sure you’ll be getting really drunk that night.” 

He laughed at the Donna logic behind that. Only Donna could take details like that into consideration when planning not only their first vacation together, but either one of their first vacation in like…ever. He couldn’t remember the last time he took a vacation. Technically, he had used vacation time when he went to Germany, but that was anything but a vacation. 

“You called our parents?” he asked. 

“Meeting us there at the end of trip.” She was smiling now. In less than a month they’d be married in a quiet, incredibly romantic ceremony, weather permitting on the beach. 

“Where exactly is THERE?” he asked. 

“Hawaii.” 

“Of course. Did you invite anyone else?” 

“My sister and brother-in-law.” 

“I mean other than immediate family.” 

“No.” 

“That’ll go over big with CJ and Zoe.” 

“CJ wouldn’t be able to come anyway, and I can tell Zoe. She’ll be all about that.” Donna said. “I’m really looking forward to the vacation.” 

“Not to the election.” 

“Nobody looks forward to a day fraught with tension, Josh.” She replied. Then laughed at his raised eyebrows. “Okay. You do. I’m looking forward to having an answer as to what we’re going to do after January.” 

“The not knowing just eats you up, doesn’t it?” he laughed. 

“Yes, I know you thrive on the unpredictableness of politics, but quite frankly, it makes me crazy.” 

“Well, this election day we have a new way to break the tension.” He said rolling over and propping himself on top of her. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly and she smiled up at him. 

“You’re incorrigible, Joshua.” She sighed as he kissed along her exposed collarbone. “Aren’t you tired? We’ve been up for, like, ever.” 

“Too tired for sex in our own bed?” he asked back. “No.” 

“Has it occurred to you that *I* might be too tired?” she countered. She wasn’t. 

“No.” he admitted. “Wait, are you?” 

“No.” 

“Then why did you say that?” 

“Just trying to prove a point.” 

“What point?” 

“Not really sure.” 

“Talk about wandering.” He said. 

“Two weeks.” She said softly. 

“Two weeks.” He replied. 

“Everything changes.” 

“Yup.” 

TBC


	14. Making History

“I can’t BELIEVE I just got to see Ronna kissing another chic!” Josh exclaimed gleefully as he swung an arm around her shoulders in the elevator. They were on their way back up to their room from the hotel bar. 

“It wasn’t as if they were making out in the bar.” Donna defended with a sigh. “It was just a kiss.” 

“A HOT kiss.” 

“It wasn’t THAT hot.” Donna scoffed. “I can kiss hotter than that.” 

“She was kissing a woman.” Josh reminded. “Hmm…I bet you would look REALLY hot kissing a woman.” 

“Keep dreaming, buddy.” Donna said. “That’s the only place you’re going to see that. I’m all for Ronna and her girlfriend, but that’s not my thing.” She looked over at him when he didn’t say anything for a minute or so, and saw he had a goofy grin on his face. 

“Josh?” 

“You told me to keep dreaming, that’s what I’m doing.” 

“Joshua!” she cried smacking him in the arm. “Okay. Maybe I will hook up with a woman. It’ll serve you right if I like her better!” 

“I hadn’t thought of that.” He said as the elevator doors opened. They stepped out of the elevator just in time to see Lou tug Otto into her hotel room. “Okay. I think I might have to wash my eyes out with soap…wait a minute.” He stopped walking and looked at Donna. Donna recognized the look he got when something just fell into place. 

“Otto and Lou.” 

“Yes.” 

“That’s why you thought she’d be mad about Zoe taking Otto to Ellie’s wedding.” He said triumphantly. 

“And it only took you four weeks and it getting thrown right in your face for you to figure it out.” She laughed. They started walking down the hall and stopped in front of their door. Before she could open it, he spun her around and trapped her up against it, putting a hand on either side of her head. She grabbed onto his waist as he captured her mouth. He tasted of scotch, but she imagined she did, too. 

He deepened the kiss and she met it with the same urgency he was bringing. Two years later and he could still kiss her breathless. Two years later and her breath still hitched when he got close to her. When he looked into her eyes, she saw the other half of her soul. 

“There’s a lot of people having sex in this hotel tonight.” He whispered pulling away. 

“Hmm?” she asked. He chuckled as he took the key card from her hand and unlocked the door on the first try. She snapped her head back towards him in amazement. 

“I’ve been practicing.” He shrugged. 

“Wow. I can’t believe what a turn on that is.” She smiled. She backed into the room and pulled him across the doorway. When the door closed, he trapped her again up against the wall. This time, they were a lot more aggressive than they were in the hallway, pulling each other’s clothes off and turning together until they finally tumbled onto the bed. He was working his way down her chest when he said, “This is a much better way to spend the night before an election.” 

“Yes.” She sighed. “You didn’t spend the night before the first Bartlet election like this?” 

“I roomed with Sam!” 

“Yeah, but Mandy was…” 

“Don’t go there.” He cut off. 

“Kay.” She said. “What about the second one?” 

“I wasn’t with anyone then.” 

“Technically, speaking. But that didn’t really matter then.” 

“There were no booty calls.” He assured. “Why is this important to you?” 

“It’s not. I was just wondering.” 

“Okay, well I can see I need to work a little harder here to distract you from me having sex with other people, and put your beautiful mind back on me having sex with you.” Josh said and she gasped out as his fingers entered her. 

“That’ll do it.” She said breathlessly. 

“No, I hope more than that will do it.” He smirked as he leaned down and captured her breast in his mouth. 

“Me too.” She moaned. “I hope there’s more, too.” He began to chuckle, but it was cut off when she grabbed his head and pulled him down for a kiss and her sounds of her first orgasm were lost to his lips, which he found highly erotic. 

“You know what?” he said perching over her. “I don’t think I can wait anymore.” 

“Me either.” She panted and her breath caught as he slowly entered her. “This is what I’m saying.” 

“Are you done talking?” he laughed. 

“Yes, definitely done talking.” 

“You still up?” he asked later as she was curled into his chest. 

“Mmm-hmm.” 

“How do you think tomorrow’s going to play?” he asked. 

“YOU’RE asking me to say whether I think we’ll win or lose?” she asked incredulously. “Mr. Superstition? Mr. Go-Outside-Turn-Around-Three-Times-and-Spit is asking me what I think is going to happen tomorrow?” 

“I’ve turned over a new leaf.” He said dryly. 

“I think win or lose, we’re going to make history.” She said after a moment. 

“Well, that was the politician’s way out of the question.” 

“Thank you.” She smiled. 

“No thoughts?” 

“Well, I think I do.” She sighed. “But every time I think about it, I end up going in circles, and so I’ve determined that no, I really have no clue. What about you?” 

“I think we’re going to win.” He said confidently. 

“Well, that’s a good thing.” 

“Yeah.” He said softly looking up at the ceiling. “Then why don’t I feel good about it?” 

************************************ 

“Wow. I can’t believe he’s gone.” 

“I’m so sorry, Josh.” 

He was lying sideways across the bed of their room. They had won the election, but the victory was marred by Leo’s death. They left the hospital that night and returned to the hotel stunned. Donna had found him a couple of times throughout the night away from the war room and withdrawn. The most heartbreaking was when she found him in Leo’s room. For someone who was no stranger to death and loss, she would have thought that he’d be the one holding it together the best. But he was by far, the one holding it together the worst. 

He didn’t just lose a colleague. He lost a mentor and a father figure. When they were in the White House, Josh was always more respectful of Leo than the rest of the senior staff; he was always the one that cared more than the others how Leo would react to something he did or didn’t do; who protected him more than the rest, and took his criticism harder than the rest. It was like he was losing his father all over again. 

“He wasn’t even sick.” He said quietly. “Right? I mean, he didn’t look sick this morning.” 

“It was a heart attack, Josh.” Donna reminded. “You don’t have to be sick to have one. They could happen to anyone. You hear stories all the time about someone who exercised all the time and ate right, suddenly having a massive heart attack and dying. They just happen.” 

“Well, if they happen to healthy people all the time, why are you always on my ass about exercising and eating right?” he smirked. 

“Nice try.” She retorted. “And if you think I’m not terrified that the same thing is going to happen to you, you’re out of your mind.” 

“I know you are.” He said quietly taking her hand. “I’m sorry. I should probably talk to Mallory and Jenny. They might need help.” 

“You’ve talked to Mallory twice already.” Donna reminded. “Don’t you remember?” 

“Not really, no.” he confessed. She ran her fingers through his hair and took a moment to study him. With the emotional highs and lows of the day, and complete lack of sleep from last night, she wasn’t surprised he didn’t remember. “What did I talk about?” 

“I don’t really know.” She confessed. “But I know that you offered to help them with anything they needed.” 

“Did someone call the President?” 

“I called CJ.” She reminded. Boy, he really was a mess. 

“When do we leave for vacation?” 

“Saturday. We don’t have to reschedule anything. We’ve got plenty of time.” She assured. 

“I told him we were going to get married next week. He was really happy.” 

“Of course he was; you were his son.” 

“Didn’t always feel that way.” 

“Did it always feel that way with your own father?” 

“No.” 

“Why was Leo any different?” 

He closed his eyes against her touch, but Donna could see the tears slipping through. She stretched out next to him and hugged him to her tightly. If she wasn’t sad enough already, he was absolutely breaking her heart into a thousand pieces now. She could handle most any of his moods, but grief and devastation were the worse. If she could make a deal with someone right now that he’d never suffer another minute of grief, she would. She’d give up anything she had to take the pain away from him. This should have been a day of celebration for him. It was the most important day of his career, and he’d never look on it that way. He would never think back to this day and look on it with pride and joy. It would always be marred by grief. 

He held onto her tightly and he knew that she’d hold him all night. He knew that she would keep all the demons at bay. She’d keep everyone away from him tonight. And she’d be there for him when the sun came up, just like she always was. All day, she’d been reeling him in from the edge. After every meltdown he had, she was right there picking up the pieces and giving him the strength to keep going; recharging him for the next segment of the day; and refocusing his attention where it belonged, even after Annabeth told them about Leo…especially after Annabeth told them about Leo. 

Since the day he’d met her, she’d been the center of his universe, though he only realized it years later. She’d kept him focused and driven She loved him whether he won or loss; whether he did something great, or something that she was quietly disturbed by. But she believed in him always, and when she smiled on him with that smile she gave him when she was proud of him, he thought he could fly. She gave him that smile tonight. And for the briefest moment, he had forgotten his grief. When he hugged her in the war room, with the rest of the staff around them, and the newly elected President-Elect mere feet away, he had forgotten that there was also a reason to be sad. 

She was always a calming presence to him and a bottomless source of strength. He’d spend the rest of his life just trying to be half of what she was to him; half the man she believed him to be. Before they got together, he used to get frustrated by the pedestal she put him on. He thought it was too high, and he never thought he deserved to be there. But now, he realized that he also kept her on a pedestal. He always expected that she’d be there for him; always know what to say, what not to say; always know when he needed to be touched and when she needed to stay away; always anticipate his every need and fulfill it before he even realized he needed it. He had come to expect that from her, and she always delivered. He often wondered if she felt the same way about her pedestal. 

Before they got together, she was the woman he compared all other women to, while subconsciously dating women who were the exact opposite of her. He wondered if he would unknowingly go into a relationship subconsciously knowing it was never going to work. He felt her pull back and kiss his forehead tenderly, and he sent up a silent prayer he’d never have to find out again. 

THE END


End file.
